Iron Man and the Armored Avengers Vol 01
by lyokoMARVELanime
Summary: You know the story of Iron Man. You know of his friend and partner War Machine. You know a fair deal of all the armored heroes of the MARVEL universe. But, what if everything you knew was just the precursor to something even bigger? Brace yourself for an adventure that redefines some items and terms concerning the MARVEL universe. Forget about what is fiction and what is real.
1. Chapter 1: New Origins

**_I own nothing but the OCs_  
**

**Chapter 1: New Origins**

In a small area just outside the city limits of Hollywood California lay a small area of old abandoned warehouses. At first glance it would seem like nothing more than what it appeared to be, but what no one knew was that inside a select row of these warehouses was a secret passage way that lead underground to a top secret laboratory that belonged to a government organization that was widely, if not completely unknown to the general public and many members of each nation's government save for specific government leaders of each nation. Inside this lab, was a massive, darkened room that held what looked like many armored suits that were mostly hidden by the lack of light, and on the main level of the lab, a test of one of these suits was being carried out by a leading figure for this division of the agency. One which had just recently failed, much to his chagrin.

"I just don't get it," He exclaimed. "We have done everything necessary, had multiple tests and simulations run, and yet the system still predicts a minimum of fifty five percent chance of failure to operating the suits effectively in the way that we both intend to and need them to operate."

"Perhaps the problem isn't with the suits or even the hardware," A feminine voice suddenly spoke up from behind him. "Maybe what we need to do is consider looking at it from another angle. Try thinking of the effectiveness of a new kind of pilot for the suits."

That last bit is what really had the man's attention, and got him to thinking. **_A new kind of pilot huh? Maybe, just maybe, it is time that we launched the program. It may be earlier than we had intended, but seeing how effectiveness is at its all time high as it is right now, we may not have a choice._** He thought to himself. He then stood up and walked out of the room to the communications center for the central command. He typed in the necessary pass codes and then waited for a reply, and he did not have to wait long.

_"This is Command. Go ahead Armory,"_ the supreme commander said. Though one could easily tell that the supreme commander wished to keep his identity hidden just from the fact that his image was silhouetted and a voice synthesizer was used to alter his voice, there was no denying that there was something familiar about the person on the holographic screen that acted as the main monitor for the comm. line.

"Sir, we have been able to raise the effectiveness of the armors to their all time best with the current given conditions, but we have not been able to reach beyond a fifty five percent chance of failure in said conditions," the man reported. He then paused for a moment before continuing. "I believe it may be time to launch the program. We may not get better results in the meantime, and really this might be our best bet. We have never been more ready than we are right now."

The commander paused to consider what he was just told for a moment. One could see his silhouetted figure move into a thinking position as he did so, and that suddenly made the man feel somewhat nervous. After much time of thinking, the commander finally said, "Very well. You are now hereby authorized to jump start _Project: Armored Avengers_. Make sure you choose the operatives wisely, because only the best people can be allowed to pilot the armors, and that does not just apply to physical skills and levels of intelligence. Just keep that in mind."

"Understood sir," the man replied as he saluted before the communication ended and then holographic screen shut off. He then turned and headed for the elevator that led to the exit. "Tell everyone that testing has ended and that _Project: Armored Avengers_ is now active and in progress," he told the woman on his way out.

"So are you going to find the first one yourself then," the woman asked.

"Why not," he replied. "After all whoever ends up wearing that armor will be taking on a legacy that I had helped bring to the big screen in four movies. You can understand why I would want someone that I personally approve of and pick to be in the real life versions of the suits I wore Hollywood copies of."

With that said he left the secret underground base and headed for the car waiting outside. He knew where he was going to head first, because they had been looking into the best candidates for _Project: Armored Avengers_ for some time now, especially in the case of the one he was now going after. It was time to recruit the person that would become the pilot of the only suit category that could lead this team, and incidentally the person that would become this new team's leader.

* * *

**Armored Avengers**

* * *

"YEAH! WOO-HOO! GO IRON MAN," screamed an excited young fan as he watched the movie _Iron Man 3_ for what seemed to his roommate to be the hundredth time. The young man was one Robert James Landry, a huge fan of Marvel Comics, especially in the case of Iron Man with Captain America being a close second. He was dressed in his usual daily attire of a simple red long sleeved shirt, blue jeans, a belt that had a cell phone and iPod Touch clipped onto it, white socks, black sneakers, and a digital wrist watch on his left wrist. The 23 year old man was one of the smartest people you would ever meet, some would say that we was smart enough to be a real life Tony Stark, but his biggest problem was that despite all his genius, he could not figure out why he was unable to get a job. Seeing as that was the case, Robert spent all the time he was out of the apartment searching for jobs, and when he was not using the computer to submit an online application or to look for a job, he was here busy watching some of his favorite Marvel heroes in action, particularly Iron Man.

"Hey man, come on," Robert's roommate finally said after Robert's latest bit of excited cheering. "You've watched that movie like a hundred times now. Do you think you could tone it down a little on the excessively loud commentary?"

"I can't help it Caz," Robert replied. "This movie is just so awesome. I mean sure it is not _The Avengers_, but it is still the best Iron Man movie yet."

His roommate now identified as Casswell "Caz" Samuels, just sighed in exasperation. He was a taller, dark skinned, big man, who normally wore a simple black shirt that seemed to be a snug fit like a shirt some guys wore for a workout, dark colored pants, and simple white shoes. Since he was best friends with Robert, and they were almost always seen hanging out together, some people had said that since Robert was like a real life Tony Stark that made Caz his real life Rhodey. In a way that was somewhat true, because Caz was the type of big guy that would always stand up for the little guy simply because he hated seeing others getting pushed around, and he always made sure to look out for his long time friend, Robert. Some days it seemed like Robert would be completely or unable to survive the day without Caz watching his back, especially back in high school when the jocks would try to push him around. He was also a fan of Iron Man, like Robert, but he tended to lean more towards Iron Man's friend and partner, War Machine. "I do not understand why you like that movie so much dude," Caz told Robert. "It is not that great a movie."

"Oh you are just still miffed that War Machine did not get as much screen time in the movies as he should have gotten. At least in your opinion," Robert retorted.

"I am not," Caz retorted.

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am-. Hey wait a minute. You are just trying trick me into watching with you by starting a childish argument," Caz suddenly realized.

"Who? Me? Now why would I-," Robert was suddenly cut off when his phone went off, with a ringtone that was the theme song of _Iron Man: Armored Adventures_. Thinking it might be someone calling him about a job he quickly whipped out his phone and answered it saying, "Hello."

"Is this Robert James Landry," the voice on the other end asked.

"Yes this is he," Robert replied.

"I have a job for you that I would like to speak to you about in person. Come to the local mall right away. It is extremely important that you come now."

"Why is it that- Hello? Hello," Robert then looked at his phone and saw that whoever was on the other end had hung up on him. He paused for a moment wondering why it was so important to come right then, but then he just shrugged it off. After all, a chance for a job was a chance for a job.

"Hey I'm going to be heading out for a bit. Might have found a new job prospect," He told Caz as he grabbed one of his many jackets, this one in particular being a black one with a green stripe on the outside of each of the sleeves that went from the end of the sleeves up to the jacket's collar. "I'll probably be back late so don't wait up for me."

Caz just grunted an acknowledgement, glad that he would not have to deal with the loud commentary that his roommate always gave whenever he watched _Iron Man 3_, and switched off the player and the television as Robert headed out the door to his car. Caz prayed that Robert would get the job he was offered this time, not that he did not mind having Robert around, but after a while, he could only take so much of the Iron Man fan boy's joy at seeing the hero in action in any one of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe alone for so long.

* * *

**Armored Avengers**

* * *

Robert had gotten to the mall no problem, and had trouble finding a good parking space of course, and was now just wandering around the food court thinking that it would be the most likely place to meet whoever had called him out there. He kept thinking to himself how strange it was that someone, whom he had never met before as far as he knew, had suddenly called him out of the blue to offer him a job. Though he would be lying if he were to say that the voice did not sound familiar.

"Excuse me! Robert James Landry?" Someone suddenly called out. Robert instantly recognized it as the same voice as the person who called him on the phone. He looked towards the source and, to his surprise, saw that the person who was calling out to him and motioning for him to come over was none other than Robert Downey Junior, the man who played Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man, in all three _Iron Man_ movies and in _The Avengers_.

"Um, are you really the one who called me? Mister Downey sir," Robert asked as he came over and sat down at the table that the famous actor was sitting at.

"Yes I am," Downey replied, "that is unless you see someone else waiting to meet you here. Like I said on the phone, I would like to recruit you for a special job I have for you."

"Why me though?"

"That is because you are unique. You have shown to have exceptional skills and extraordinary abilities that others do not posses, and because of that, you have been selected to become a part of something bigger than anyone could ever imagine. This is something that most people in society would believe to be impossible, something that has not been able to be done until now. This is something that would allow you to give people a reason to believe that heroes really can exist and do exist. I will not force you to agree of course, but if you want to help make a difference in the world, then I highly suggest you agree to see exactly what we are offering for you to become a part of."

This little speech threw Robert for a loop. It sounded almost as though the man before him had actually just paraphrased a line from the movie _Man of Steel_ that had come out the same summer as _Iron Man 3_, but at the same time, it sounded like something that actually was for real. Robert was curious about that, but there was one thing that really had him hooked, when Downey had said that he would be able to make a difference. More than anything, that was what Robert was hoping to do with any job he would take on. Sure there were jobs that he was more than adequately qualified for, but the problem was just that he felt like he needed to take a job where he could help make a real difference, not just in his own life or in that job, but in the lives of everyone in the world. He wanted that more than anything else, and if it were possible for that to happen now, then he knew exactly what his answer should be. "Alright, I am interested. Now tell me, what exactly is it that you want me to see?"

Downey smiled at that answer, and then he stood up and motioned for Robert to follow him. They both walked out of the building, to a limo that was waiting for them outside. He allowed Robert to enter the vehicle first before getting in himself and telling the driver where to take them. He then turned to Robert and said, "Congratulations kid. You have now taken your first steps into entering the R.M.H.F."

"The what," Robert asked, confusion just as evident on his face as it was in his voice.

"The R.M.H.F. It stands for Real Marvel Heroes Force," Downey then clarified. "We are a new secret organization that has a simple mission of making the heroes of the Marvel Comics, some if not all the things they can do, and the technology they use a reality. We have not been able to get close to doing so in my division until now though. The only thing we are missing at the moment is the right operative to get things started."

"What is it exactly that your division does? And what is it called," Robert asked.

"Our division is known by the code name of _Armory_. Our responsibilities are simple and have a simple start. That start is..." he paused for a moment to add a little dramatic effect. "To create the first ever, real Iron Man."

Robert could only gasp in amazement at this, and the shock of this revelation was evident on his face. A real live Iron Man? As in an Iron Man that truly exists in real life and not just in a live action movie? It was unbelievable to say the least, and it was almost like a dream come true for him. He had always wanted to see someone create a real Iron Man armor, but he had no idea that someone was already working on it, or for that matter, was close to completing it. Still, that left the question of what any of that had to do with him unanswered. That was when he noticed something strange about his surroundings outside the limo.

He did not know how long it had escaped his notice, but it seemed for some time now, they had been on the outskirts of the city, and appeared to be heading for a section of old, abandoned Hollywood warehouses. The limo then pulled into one of these warehouses and then came to a stop. The next thing he knew, there was the sound of machinery starting up, and they began descending into what appeared to be an underground elevator. Where it lead to he did not know, but he did know that it had to be something really big if what Downey had told him really was true.

Moments later, the elevator had stopped and Downey gestured for him to get out of the vehicle, and the second Robert did, he saw that what he had been told was very much true indeed. The room he had stepped into was a massive complex with each of the walls having a space in it that housed what looked like exact replicas of each Iron Man Armor there had ever been, save for the ones with an entrance and exit door on opposing sides. He could see the Mark Forty Two, the Heartbreaker Armor, and every other armor that had been in the movies, including the suits that were in the final epic battle near the end of the third movie as well as suits that had only been in either the comics or certain animated series from television. Along with the various Iron Man Armors, there were also other suits for the other armored heroes of the Marvel Comics universes, and Robert could only stare in awe at the mere sight of all this. He could feel Downey smirking from behind him, as said Hollywood actor walked up to stand beside him, and said, "Welcome Robert, the _Hall of Armors_, the main hanger and repair center of _Armory_. I would get a good look at the Iron Man suits now if I were you kid, because you are the one who is going to become the pilot of them. You are the operative I was talking about."

Robert could not believe what he had just heard. Robert Downey Junior was actually telling him that he had been selected to become the first ever, real life Iron Man. As soon as Robert had absorbed the sight around him, along with the information he had just been given, he followed Downey to the elevator exit on the other side of the room. One elevator ride later, they arrived in the main lab, where a few technicians and scientists were seen working on multiple tasks that would no doubt ensure the success of a mission or that the armors would not fail in the field while in use. Once they were out of the elevator, Robert finally asked Downey an important question that had been bothering him. "About this whole thing and the need to select a pilot for the suit," Robert began, "Why did you choose me? I mean, isn't there anyone better suited or qualified to become a real life version of Iron Man than some random guy from the city? What makes me so much different from anyone else that you think that I am best suited to become Iron Man?"

"That is an excellent question," Downey answered. "You are actually quite correct, because in terms of capabilities there are people who are more qualified to pilot any one of the Iron Man armors. The problem there is that most of those people are either soldiers who know of nothing but combat or are simply just big guys who are bullies. Now if we were looking for someone who was to pilot a different suit in the category designation of War Machine then we probably would not have a problem, emphasis on probably; however, our mission objective states that we cannot start this officially until we have recruited and deployed someone in one of the Iron Man suits. The best person to pilot Iron Man armor cannot be a soldier, because Iron Man is not a soldier. He is a hero, and only someone who truly understands what it means to be Iron Man can be the pilot of the suit, or more specifically someone who understands that such technology should be used to help people and save lives, not to destroy them. As soon as I found out about you I knew that you were the best person for this job."

The whole time Downey was talking, Robert could not help but be amazed and honored all at once. To think that someone could truly believe that he could be able to become Iron Man was incredible to say the least, but the man who actually played Iron Man in the movies himself was here not only saying he could do so to his face but he was actually telling him that he was actually going to do it for real, and the only person who would know if someone could be a real life Iron Man best, aside from Stan Lee, would be the man standing before him. The Iron Man fan boy in him was jumping around cheering like a fan girl meeting her favorite rock star, but the man himself just had a permanent look of shock on his face that said that he was amazed that this was actually happening. He knew people always believed he was like a real life version of Tony Stark, but not only was he now actually going to prove them right, but he would actually have the high-tech suit to go with it all. Now there was only one question he had left. "Where do we start?"

Downey smiled when the kid asked that, as he hoped he would. He then asked him to follow him and they stepped into _Armory_'s medical lab, which was where Robert's journey would begin. "Here in the medical lab, we will be able to start your process to becoming Iron Man," Downey told him. "What do you know about _Extremis_?"

"I know it is the title of a six part Iron Man story arc from the comic title _The Invincible Iron Man_. In the story, an old friend of Tony Stark's, Maya Hansen, called him asking for help after her project was stolen by a terrorist, Mallen. When Mallen over powers Iron Man in battle, Stark has Maya inject him with an improved version of the Extremis formula so he could become, and I quote, 'Iron Man inside and out'. It allowed him to call the armor to him and form it around him by simply thinking at it. A number of the elements in the story arc were actually used in some of the Iron Man movies and _The Avengers_, in a sense. Most notable being _Iron Man 3_, where Extremis itself was actually used by A.I.M."

"Well, it would seem that you really are quite the Iron Man fan. Your knowledge on the subject is quite extensive. I ask because we have created a similar process that will allow you to use all of the Iron Man armors and call them to you from anywhere at any time. This is actually your last chance to back out if you want, because once you are injected with _Extremis R_, as we call it, there will not be any more chances to back out. You will be Iron Man for good until the day you die."

Well if Robert was not worried about this before, he most definitely was now. Admittedly, he was a little nervous about becoming Iron Man, but after hearing that he was more than a little nervous. He began weighing the pros and cons to all this. On one hand he would not only be able to have a guaranteed form of protection at all times that he could call to him instantly, but he would also finally be able to use highly advanced technology to help people and make a real difference in the world. On the other hand, however, he would also more than likely be facing serious life threatening danger and eventually people that would want to try and kill him, because everyone knew that becoming a superhero meant that eventually you had to deal with supervillains as well. After much considering though, which took only a few moments, he finally gave an answer as he looked to Downey and the scientists. "Do it."

After what felt like hours later, which was really just a few minutes or so, Robert had been fully injected with the _Extremis R_ serum, which he later found out was short for _Extremis Real_. He was then led back into the lab, which doubled as the main control center and launch zone for the armors, which could deploy four armors at once. Downey had Robert stand near the middle of the room near the launch pad and prepared to instruct him in what to do. "Alright kid, now we are going to start you off with the Iron Man Mark Forty Two armor," he instructed as said armor was raised into the control center to prep for deployment, "All you have to do is just think at it. Imagine it as nothing more than an extension of your own body like an outer shell that can instantly come on or off through your own will. Then tell it to come to you."

Thinking of what Downey had just told him, Robert looked directly at the suit of armor that was sitting in its storage unit, imagining it as an extension of his body. He then raised his right hand in front of him as a way to indicate that he wanted it to come to him and help him focus. Almost immediately after he had raised his arm, the appropriate piece of the armor instantly responded and flew right to him and formed around his hand and lower arm. Then the rest of the armor up to the shoulder came to him and did the same, followed by the left leg, then his right leg, and the rest of the armor finishing up with the helmet and its face plate, which led to him finishing in the iconic Iron Man pose of having one of his fist on the ground with the other in the air while he was crouched down. "Well? How did I do," he asked.

"Not bad kid," Downey replied with a smile. "Now we just need to run through a few more tests to make sure that-"

_"Mister Downey sir,"_ a voice over the intercom suddenly interrupted. _"We have just intercepted an emergency alert. There is a massive fire raging in a hotel building and people are still trapped inside. The firemen cannot get to them in time before the fire causes the building to start collapsing around them."_

"We are not ready yet," Downey spoke into the intercom system's microphone. "The kid has only started training to get used to the armor and the _Extremis R_. We cannot just launch without being-"

"I am going out there," Robert interrupted. "And I am going to save those people."

"What," Downey cried. "Kid, you are not ready yet. You have only just started training and you have not even started flight or combat training."

"We do not have time to train, and those people are not going to wait for me to complete any of that," Robert argued as he ran over to the launch pad designated for Iron Man. "Now you can either let me go and save those people or you can stay out of my way, because I will not stand by and do nothing when I know I can do something to help."

Downey did not need to see Robert's face to know the kid was serious and there was no way to change his mind. "Alright," Downey finally relented. He then moved over to the command center's central command station so he could provide full support for the rookie as he continued saying, "Iron Man launch sequence is now on standby. All personnel clear the launch zones. Repeat all personnel clear the launch zones. This is not a drill people. We are now officially becoming fully active."

He then looked to the Robert who gave an affirmative nod. Downey nodded back and typed in the final commands to finish activating the launch zone's systems and opened the respective launch zone doors. "Checking final launch preparation systems," Downey said. "All systems are go. Launch zone doors are now open and course is clear. Landry, you are clear to launch when ready."

"Roger that," Robert responded. "Iron Man Mark Forty Two Armor, launching now!"

With that Robert blasted off through the launch zone exit. From there the suit's systems and those of the launch zone guided him out of the complex and into the air. He then followed the suit's navigator systems to where the emergency call had come from and moved around to fly in that direction. It took him a few moments to get a handle on how the flight system's controls worked, as well as getting used to the fact that he was flying period, but eventually Robert was able to gain a good grasp of the whole thing and was at the burning hotel building in no time. He then had the suit, the A.I. of which was known as J.A.R.V.I.S. like in the movies and a number of the animated series that Iron Man was in these days, locate the heat sources of human beings that were in the building.

_"Mister Landry sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. said. _"I have located a total of five human heat sources still within the confines of the building. At least two of them have been positively identified as rescue officials and they are transporting two of the heat signatures to safety."_

"Will they be able to make it," Robert asked.

_"Affirmative."_

"What about the fifth heat signature?"

_"It has been confirmed to be trapped on the top floor, and it would appear that they are unable to move due to being paralyzed from the waist down. Rescue workers will be unable to reach the individual in time."_

"Then that is where I am going," Robert said, his voice full of determination, as he rocketed up to the top most floor of the building and into an open window. The flames licked against the metal of the armor as he made his way through the inferno to the trapped civilian.

At last he finally saw the person he was trying to save, trapped by the flames and sitting in a wheel chair. The woman, who had dark hair and was probably in her mid to late thirties, appeared to be barely conscious as he approached. She tried look up and caught a glimpse of Robert in his armor walking through the flames. "Who are you," she barely whispered out.

"I am here to help," Robert replied. He then picked her up so that he was holding her in his arms bridal style as he said, "Do not worry. It is going to be okay."

Outside, the floor they were on appeared to explode, and the crowd below became very worried but none more so, than a young woman screaming out for her mother with tears in her eyes. Then someone cried out to look up, and everyone looked to where the explosion had happened. What they saw was unbelievable to say the least, as there, from the inferno and smoke of the explosion came what looked like a man in red and gold flying down from the building towards the crowd carrying a woman in his arms.

"Mom," the woman who was screaming with tears in eyes earlier cried out as she ran towards where the man was setting her down on a stretcher for the paramedics.

"Oh sweetie, do not cry. I am fine. Thanks to him," the woman told her daughter as she looked at her rescuer, who seemed to bow his head in shyness.

"Yes. Thank you so much," the younger girl said to the mystery hero. "Tell me, who are you?"

The armored hero looked around and saw everyone in the crowd staring at him, waiting in anticipation for his answer. He paused for a moment, almost like he was thinking of what he should say, but really he did know what to say. He then looked to the crowd and replied, "I am Iron Man."

To say the gathered crowd was both amazed and shocked was putting it mildly, but when Iron Man crouched a bit and then blasted off into the sky to help put out the fire before flying off into the distance, they were most definitely true believers.

* * *

**Armored Avengers**

* * *

Later that day, Robert was finishing up the last of his training sessions for the day. Since he had already used the Mark Forty Two so much that day, it made the most sense to make that his default armor and practice in it for now. _"Simulation Complete,"_ the computer then said.

Downey then walked in as the program shut down. "Not bad kid," he congratulated Robert. "And nice work out there today. The reports of your rescue work are already all over the news. You really helped a lot of people today, and this is only the beginning."

"You're right about that Downey," Robert agreed. "I have always wanted to use my genius to help build and use technology that could help people and make a real difference in the world. Now, I can do that and more, because now that is exactly what Robert James Landry…no that is what Iron Man is going to do."

"Well, I am certainly glad to hear that kid," Downey told him. "Because we are only getting started."

When Robert gave him a confused look, Downey motioned for him to come over to the main computer in the control lab. "As you may have noticed, we do have more than one category of armor in the _Hall of Armors_, and as such, we are going to need more than one pilot," Downey explained. "So as of now, your job is to help us find people who would be best suited to fill in the remaining three positions of armor categories and become the leader of this new team, that we are calling the Armored Avengers."

"Well then," Robert stated, "Let's get started."

* * *

**Armored Avengers**

* * *

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a man hidden in the shadows was viewing multiple monitors that showed multiple news stations and security camera feeds from all over both the city and the world as a man dressed in a black, leather-like material came in and saluted him before giving a report.

"Sir, I am afraid that our plans with the inferno at the hotel complex have failed," the leather wearing man reported. "There was an unexpected interference from an unknown individual."

"No my lesser intelligent lackey," the shadowed man responded. "The plans did not fail. We have now confirmed that some old friends of mine have completed phase one of their operations. That was the intention all along. We have now confirmed that the first armor category is operational and a pilot has been found for it. To put it in terms that your simple mind can comprehend, we have confirmed that the one obstacle to our plan now exists. We now know that Iron Man exists, and we are now able to begin preparations to deal with him once and for all. Now I suggest you make yourself useful, and commence with those preparations immediately."

"By your orders," the lackey replied as he saluted. "Mister Fix."

* * *

**AN: Next time on _Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, the word is now officially out that Robert is working as an assistant to Robert Downey Jr. and some people are a little skeptical. "Rob man, come on. I'm just saying it's a little strange." "I know Caz, but that is just how it is."**

** And our hero gets a visit from not one but two stunning red heads. "Robert, I would like you to meet Gwyneth Paltrow. _Armory_'s head medical expert and field technician." "Hey Rob! It is so good to see you again." "Kari! It's been a long time, and yet you're still as beautiful as ever. Well, you know for a doctor I mean." "You'll never change Robert, but that's just one of the things I like about you."**

** Unfortunately, some people don't want Robert to see only red, but Crimson as well. "The Iron Man. Long have I awaited this moment." "Yep, this day has definitely redefined the old saying about seeing red. Except now I'm seeing crimson too." Can Iron Man handle an enemy that can almost match him in all aspects of armor strength so soon in his hero career? "It's time to Armor up!" Find out on the next exciting chapter of…_Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_!**


	2. Chapter 2: Seeing Red and Crimson

**I own nothing involved with Iron Man or any other copyrighted property mentioned in this story. The only thing I do own is the OCs that appear in the story**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Seeing Red and Crimson**

It had been a few weeks since the first appearance of Iron Man, and since then, the armored hero had made multiple appearances in which he had made several rescues and stopped many crimes. Anything from bank robberies and jewelry heists, to more raging fires and collapsing buildings with people trapped, to even saving a sinking ship. In that time, Robert had continued his training and had shown vast improvement in his use of the Mark Forty Two in a short amount of time. He would have begun training with some of the other suits, but the problem was that none of the other suits were fully operational or ready for deployment so he was stuck with the Mark Forty Two only and none of the other armors.

On another note, Robert's disappearances and sudden needs to run off were now given a cover story. Ever since he had first put on the armor, he and Downey had been telling people that Robert James Landry was now Robert Downey Junior's personal assistant. Saying that he was working for Downey was technically true, but the only difference between the official story and the real story was the fact that the real story was that he was really Iron Man and Downey was training him and acting as his commanding officer. Despite what the official story said though, there were actually a few people that did not believe the official story.

One of those people was actually the roommate of the new armored hero, one Caz Samuels. Now do not misunderstand, Caz was more than happy that his best friend and roommate had finally found work somewhere, but there was just something strange about it. Robert had always gone on and on about how he wanted to do a job that would allow him to help people with his genius and skills with technology, and now he had a job as an assistant to a famous Hollywood actor. How exactly was that supposed to be using Robert's genius and technology skills to help people? After about a week of thinking this, Caz finally confronted Robert about all this.

"I just don't see what the problem is Caz," Robert told him when Caz did confront him. The two of them had gone to their favorite hang out, Hollywood Central Plaza Mall, to just browse a few stores and talk for a bit. At least that was what Caz had told him they would be doing. He did not expect this interrogation that his best friend was giving him

"Rob man, come on. I'm just saying it's a little strange," Caz argued. "You have to admit that. I mean you have always said you wanted to do a job where you could use your genius and abilities with technology and now you accept a full time job working as an assistant to a famous movie actor? Forgive me if I find that really weird."

"I know Caz, but that's just how it is," Robert sighed. "You and I both know I was having an impossible time finding my dream job, so I just went with the best thing I could get. Besides, you have to admit it's cool that I'm working for Mister Downey, as in the guy who played Iron Man in the movies."

"Yeah it is cool," Caz admitted. He decided to just let it go for the moment, but only for the moment. Caz knew his best friend well enough to know when he was lying, and despite the fact that Robert was no longer a terrible liar like he was when they were kids, Caz could still tell. Caz was now more determined than ever to figure out what it was his best friend was not telling him about the new job he had undertaken.

He would have asked something else when suddenly he was cut off by a blur that revealed itself to be a young red haired woman wearing a dark purple top and dark colored jeans. She also had a black purse on her left shoulder and a digital wrist watch that was almost identical to Robert's except for the color. "Hey Rob! It is so good to see you again," she suddenly cried out as she released him from her hug.

"Kari! It's been a long time, and yet you're still as beautiful as ever. Well, you know for a doctor I mean," Robert stuttered.

"You'll never change Robert, but that's just one of the things I like about you," the now identified Kari teased.

Caz just smirked at the sight of his best friend stumbling on his words. The fiery red head was known as Kari Calypso, a long time friend of both his and Robert's. Like Robert she was a technology genius and wanted to help people, but the big difference was that she was especially gifted in the area of biological and medical technology. She had gotten a job as a doctor out of state not long after finishing college and, the last either Robert and Caz had heard, she had started up her own medical business and was now a very skilled physician and biological researcher. The main reason for Robert's stuttering and Caz's smirk in response was the fact that ever since he had met the red headed woman in college, Robert had been crushing on Kari like a school boy with a first crush.

"What're you doing here anyways Kari," Robert asked. He would be lying if he were to say he was expecting to see his red haired crush again so soon.

"I'm back in town to start up a new wing for my clinic," Kari explained. "And not only that, but I have been offered a new laboratory complex to conduct some of my newest bio-tech research."

"Hey that's great Kari," Caz said. He did not understand most of the stuff his two friends here said most of the time, but he did understand things like this and knew it was a big deal for them.

"Say Robert, I heard you work for Robert Downey Junior now. Is that true," Kari suddenly questioned.

"Yeah it is," Robert said. "It's nothing too big actually. Most of the stuff I do is help with his schedule of public appearances and meetings, and other stuff like that."

Kari and Caz both looked like they were about to say something else when Robert's cell phone suddenly went off. He pulled it out and checked the caller id to see that it was Downey, or more specifically _Armory_. "Hey that's Mister Downey now," Robert said. "He probably needs me for something important." He hit the answer button on his cell phone. "Hello?"

_"Kid, get to _Armory _right away. There's someone here you need to meet right away,"_ Downey's voice told him over the phone.

"Okay," Robert replied. "I'll be there right away." He hung up and turned to his friends to say, "Sorry guys, but the boss needs me to come in. I will talk to you later."

"Yeah okay pal," Caz said as Robert turned to run off.

Before Robert did though, he turned back to Kari and asked, "Hey Kari. Next time we're both free, maybe the two of us could catch up over dinner?"

To say that Kari and Caz were both stunned was putting it mildly. In all the years either of them had known Robert he had never once showed any sort of confidence when it came to asking out any girl, especially in Kari's case. Now all of a sudden he had just stopped and asked her out almost like he was asking what the weather was like today. If that did not say that something was seriously different about their genius friend, there was no telling what did.

After taking all this in and considering for a moment, Kari finally smiled and replied, "Sure. I'd like that."

"Great," Robert said. "I'll call you later alright?"

"Sure thing. You still have my number right?"

"Have you changed it since we last met?"

"No."

"Well then yes. I still have your number."

"Okay then. Talk to you later."

Robert waved and then turned around and ran off. As he went though, Caz watched him go and could not help but think that something about the new job Robert had taken up, had changed him. Now more than ever, Caz was determined to find out everything he could about what his best friend had gotten himself into.

* * *

Robert had long since memorized every route to _Armory_ headquarters so he would not take the same route every time and arouse suspicion. This was mostly because Downey had said that the operations of R.M.H.F. were still unknown to the public at large and they wanted it to remain that way for as long as possible. So after a fifteen to twenty minute drive, he arrived at the warehouse and brought his car into the underground parking center that was accessed via the elevator he had used when Downey first brought him here before parking and getting out.

One express elevator trip to the central command center later, he found out why Downey had called him. There in the control room with Downey was a woman with long red hair dressed in a mostly white outfit, and holding a clipboard, which Robert instantly recognized as the leading actress of all three Iron Man movies

Downey then noticed Robert's arrival. "Hey kid glad you could make it," he said as Robert came over. "Robert, I would like you to meet Gwyneth Paltrow. _Armory_'s head medical expert and field technician."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mister Landry," Paltrow said to Robert. "I am sure you have a few questions, but right now, I just need you to run through a simple physical. It is mostly so that we know you are in the best shape and condition necessary to perform your duties as Iron Man."

"Uh…sure thing Miss Paltrow," Robert replied as he followed her to the medical center. "One question though. Why do we really have a medical center when the pilots use an indestructible suit of armor?"

"Nothing is ever truly indestructible kid," Paltrow told Robert. "And it is also to make sure that we do not send you out when you are not in the best state of health."

Robert nodded in understanding of this. He could understand the need to make sure that everyone was feeling well enough to work and no one had to worry about suffering serious injuries. After all, what good was a hero that was not in his best state of health? As soon as they had finished up the physical, Robert was about to start another drill of training when the alarm sounded.

_"Alert,"_ the computer stated. _"Hollywood Convention center is under attack by unknown assailant. Threat Level: 8. Unknown assailant is utilizing unidentified technology."_

"'Unidentified technology'," Robert asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like," Downey replied. "The strange thing is that we know about nearly all forms of current technology are in the R.M.H.F. database. For it to be unknown would be something in and of itself."

Downey and Paltrow both turned to the kid, worry etched on their faces. That worry was quickly erased when they saw Robert's face filled with courage and determination. He then turned around and saw the Mark Forty Two armor rising up from the Hall of Armors. With a simple gesture with his right hand he shouted out, "It's time to Armor Up!"

At that instant the Iron Man Mark Forty Two armor flew to and formed around him, changing Robert James Landry into the Invincible Iron Man. He moved to his launch position as Downey sat down at the command desk, and ran through the sequence and gave the all clear. Moments later, Iron Man had blasted off and rocketed through the air to the scene of the crime.

After arriving at the convention center, Iron Man immediately felt that something was wrong. He had already landed inside the building and searched a majority of the rooms including the main room itself where a majority of the people in the convention center was normally gathered. Given all that and the fact that it was eerily quiet, he could only assume one thing. "Someone was trying to lure me or someone else here, but whom?"

He got his answer almost instantaneously when a large red fist knocked him off feet and crashing through the wall of the room he was in, right into the middle of the floor of the main room. He got back to his feet and turned to face his attacker, who had also entered the room through the same hole he had made in the wall, making said hole even bigger. His attacker was decked out in a large suit of armor that was dark red all over, and had obvious weapons on its forearms. The helmet seemed to be similar to that of a soldier's helmet and a face mask, and the shoulders seemed large enough to house hidden weapons, more than likely missile launchers. The only part of the armor that was not colored in crimson was the visor that hid the wearer's eyes, which was a very dark gold color. The large, crimson armored enemy moved to stand over Iron Man as he looked down upon the smaller armored warrior, almost as if he were studying him.

"Yep, this day has definitely redefined the old saying about seeing red. Except now I'm seeing crimson too," Iron Man quipped out. He probably was not in much of a position to be making jokes, but considering it was either that or start panicking like a maniac he was not going to listen to any complaints.

"The Iron Man. Long have I awaited this moment," the larger armored warrior said in a deep Russian accent.

"Really? I am truly flattered."

"Ever since I saw you in action, as I believe you Americans say, I have wanted to face you in combat to prove that there is no warrior mightier than the true Crimson Dynamo."

"So let me see if I have this right," Iron Man then asked. "You have basically designed your own high tech suit of armor just so you could have a chance to fight me to prove you are better than me? Not only that, but you had to call yourself 'Crimson Dynamo'?"

"Dah," Dynamo replied. "For you see, if you are the Iron Man, then it would only be fitting that I become one of the greatest opponents of the comic book hero, whose legacy you have decided to take on."

"Well I guess it would be hard to argue with that logic," Iron Man commented as he finally got himself off the ground and fired a repulsor blast at the now identified Crimson Dynamo. The blast sent the crimson villain far across the room, but before he hit ground, he was able to right himself to land on his feet.

"Well I see you are as mighty as the new reporters have made you seem to be," Dynamo commented. "At last, I have found an opponent worthy of my true might and power in battle!"

With that the two warriors charged each other, meeting in the center of the room. As soon as they did, they began to exchange blows in full on melee combat. Iron Man was no master martial artist, but he was more than skilled in a full blown brawl. He swung his fist left and right in uppercuts, cross blows, and all other forms of fist strikes, but Crimson Dynamo was able to counter or block a number of his blows and strike back with his own attacks that each packed an equal if not greater amount of power than Iron Man's. Neither armored warrior let up for a moment, and despite the fact that Iron Man had a rough start at first he was able to eventually start making a strong comeback and hit Crimson Dynamo hard enough to cause some damage or make him stubble for even a small moment.

After a great deal of many more fisticuffs, counters, blocks, and all other forms of melee combat, Iron Man had decided he had put up with this for long enough. He then delivered a final kick to his opponent, and as soon it connected, he fired his repulsor jets and blasted his opponent back while gaining some ground for himself by blasting into the air, gaining an aerial advantage over his opponent. He had gained a very clear understanding of the fact that he would not be able to win in a fist fight against the Crimson Dynamo, so he decided that it was time to take advantage of his smaller size and use his flight abilities and weapons to gain an edge over his opponent.

"Ah so the Iron Man believes that he can escape my grasp simply because he can fly like a little bird," Crimson Dynamo taunted. "Nyet, for you see you are not the only one who can fly."

At that the Crimson Dynamo's own boots let off a blast of their own and allowed him to become air born like his opponent. The flight seemed to be slow at first, but eventually his velocity seemed to be similar to Iron Man's as he was quickly at a matching height.

_"Sir it appears that the enemy unit's suit is flight capable,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. commented.

"Really, I hadn't noticed J.A.R.V.I.S.," Robert told the A.I. with great deal of sarcasm evident. "We're just going to have to match him as best we can and stay ahead of him. Can you handle helping me with that J?"

_"I should be more than able to sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

"Then do it, because here he comes now!"

With comment, Iron Man had quickly evaded a strike from Crimson Dynamo that sent the larger armored warrior flying past him. Thus what began as a fist fight became an all out aerial battle between the two warriors in state of the art armor. Iron Man had to be careful when returning fire upon his opponent, as he was pushed near to the edge dodging fire from Dynamo's Gatling Gauntlets and shoulder missile launchers. It was not long before Iron Man finally responded with his own weapons by firing directly at Crimson Dynamo with his repulsors. His goal was to try and ground his opponent so he would be able to have an advantage over the larger fighter, but the problem was despite his size, Crimson Dynamo was quite fast and able to easily evade his shots.

After what seemed like hours, Iron Man was beginning to tire out and the armor's power was beginning to hit critical levels. He decided to make one final push at this unexpected challenger and beat a hasty retreat. His decision made, he told J.A.R.V.I.S. to reroute as much power as possible into the Unibeam and allowed the Crimson Dynamo to tackle him and pin him against the wall. "I expected more of a challenge Iron Man. I suppose my little surprise made you unable to give me the combat I desired, but perhaps I overestimated you and you are simply weak."

"Now that is just a mean thing to assume," Iron Man quipped. As soon as he said that, he fired his Unibeam causing Dynamo to be sent hurtling into the opposite wall. "And also a really dumb thing as well," he finished.

Crimson Dynamo seemed to not be fazed all that much and instead came back charging his own powerful energy blast. _"Sir that energy blast may be too much for the armor to handle,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. commented. _"I recommend a full retreat at once."_

"Yeah good idea J. Why did I not think of that," Robert replied dryly. "Fire off some flares into the blast. That might give us a smoke screen to disorient him and give us time to get away."

Not a moment later, Dynamo had fired his energy blast right into the flares that had fired from Iron Man's upper legs, causing a massive explosion that covered the whole room in smoke. As soon as the smoke had blanketed the room, Iron Man moved to try and blast off, but then something grabbed hold of his leg keeping him from flying off, and threw him back down into the ground. Robert let out a low groan from within the armor as he looked through the visors to see Crimson Dynamo standing over him and holding him down, pinned against the floor.

"An impressive attempt to confuse me Iron Man," Crimson Dynamo stated. "Though it was a futile one. Another warrior would finish you off once and for all right now. Be very thankful I am not another warrior. I am an honorable man and will not accept this victory just yet. This is only the first round of our battle and believe me there will be other battles between you and I." He then removed his armored boot from Iron Man's chest and turned to walk away.

"Wait," Iron Man moaned out. "You mean you are just going to come in here, beat me up, nearly finish me off for good, and then just walk away?"

"Dah, that is correct. As I said, I am an honorable warrior who lives for battle. When next we meet Iron Man and that will be soon I assure you, I expect you to provide me with a challenge worthy of the warriors whose names and armor we wear," Crimson Dynamo replied as he walked away.

Once he had left Robert tried to stand, but found that his body felt extremely heavy. After much effort at trying to get on his feet, he simply told J.A.R.V.I.S. to engage the autopilot and return to _Armory_. Moments later, he was back at the command center explaining what had happened to Downey and Paltrow. He even mentioned the fact that Crimson Dynamo seemed to expect a rematch despite the fact that he had won, and that it would happen soon.

"This is definitely a problem," Downey commented as soon as Robert finished giving his report on what had happened.

"I know," Robert answered from the examination table he was sitting on while Paltrow finished checking him for any injuries. "That guy, the Crimson Dynamo, has a suit of armor that is nearly equal in strength to the Iron Man armor and seems to be a seasoned fighter, but now I know he is out there. He may come after me again, but next time I will be ready."

Downey and Paltrow simply smiled at Robert's determination. He may have lost his battle today, but he did not let it bother him. Before anyone could make a suggestion for Robert to continue training or getting some rest, the theme song for _Iron Man: Armored Adventures_ suddenly started playing, indicating Robert was getting a call on his cell phone. He quickly pulled it out and answered it right away saying, "Hello?"

"Hey Rob, it is Kari," Kari's voice said from the other end of the phone.

Instantly Robert's face started to heat up a little despite his attempts to hide a blush from Downey and Paltrow. "Oh hey Kari," He replied. "What is up?"

"Nothing much, I was just wondering if that dinner offer was still open?"

"Yeah definitely," Robert answered his face turning redder by the minute. He could practically feel the smirks that were forming on the faces of the two Hollywood actors' faces.

"Well I am free on Friday night and I was wondering if we could have it then. Is that okay with you?"

Robert instantly gained a stunned look. His long time college crush actually wanted to go out with him on Friday night. Sure he had made the initial offer earlier, but it was still hard for him to believe all the same. He finally stuttered out, "Yeah, Friday is a great time. So should I pick you up at say six?"

"Actually how about say seven," Kari asked. "I actually get home at five and I want to make sure I look my best when you pick me up."

"Yeah okay, seven it is. I will see you then," Robert replied. As soon as he received a confirmation from Kari and they both said goodbye, he hung up the phone and stored it back in its usual belt clip compartment. He then turned and saw that Downey and Paltrow were still smirking at him.

"What," he finally asked.

"Looks like being Iron Man has been a bigger help to you than we originally thought it would be," Downey finally said. He then wiped a fake tear away saying, "I am so happy."

"It is not like that," Robert quickly stated. "We went to college together and we are old classmates."

"And you are completely falling for her," Paltrow added in.

"Well maybe I am but….shut up," Robert said as he half walked, half ran out to the elevator to get back up to his car. He could still hear the two of them trying to silently laugh as he did though.

* * *

A few days later, Friday night had come and Robert was extremely nervous. Caz was helping him to make sure his best friend looked his best, and given the restaurant that Robert had gone through all the trouble of getting reservations at, it was clear that Robert was determined for this night to be perfect. Now the only issue Robert had was making sure his tie was tied properly, that he did not stumble all over himself or his words, and above all that nothing happened that would require him to armor up and respond to a situation that needed him as Iron Man. Of course, he did not tell Caz that last one for obvious reasons.

"Would you relax Rob," Caz finally told him. "You look great and your night is going to go just as well."

"Yeah easy for you to say," Robert retorted. "I mean I am taking Kari, the most amazing, intelligent, beautiful girl I know, out for dinner tonight. What was I thinking when I had asked that?!"

"You tell me, because you would definitely know better than I would pal."

"Maybe I should just back out now. Save myself the embarrassment that I will more than likely inflict upon myself you know?"

"That would be a seriously bad idea if you want her to like you as more than a friend pal," Caz warned Robert. "Besides if that were true then I guess it is a good thing that she is already nearly here isn't it?"

"Wait what," Robert then asked. "She's coming here? Now?!"

Robert stepped out of his room fully dressed in a black suit with a dark red shirt and black neck tie. He had combed his hair so that it was not in its usual state of being a semi-wild mess, and made sure he had a clean shave that left his face as smooth as possible. He still had on his usual digital wrist watch as he always did, but other than that it gave one the illusion that he was a completely different person. The look on his face told Caz that even though he had cleaned up so well, he was still the same Robert, because he looked like he was about to panic.

"Hey here she comes now," Caz said as he peeked out the window. "Whoa. I think I see why you like her so much dude, because in that dress she looks gorgeous. I am telling you right now, if you screw this up I will not hesitate to take a shot at her myself."

"Hey do not even think about it jerk," Robert retorted. "What happened to that whole thing about not going after your best friend's ex-girlfriend and the guy rule book stuff?" You see, Robert did not know about that kind of thing until Caz had filled him in on it back in middle school.

"Technically it does not count if she was not your best friend's girlfriend to begin with," Caz replied. "By the way, Kari will not be your girlfriend at all if you do not get the courage to ask her to be tonight at the very least." That was when the door bell rang. "Well go on and answer it will you, and do not forget the corsage you got her."

Robert shot Caz a look that said he was not laughing, swallowed deeply as he grabbed said corsage, and then opened the door. As soon as he did, the sight that met his eyes had him completely mesmerized in mere seconds. Standing in the doorway was Kari, but she was completely different to the way she was when he had last seen her mere days ago at the mall. She was wearing a dark red, strapless dress that almost matched her hair color which seemed to stop just a little ways past her legs, and seemed to show off her figure perfectly. She had on black high heels as well and her hair was done up in a way that made it seem like an endless wave when a gentle breeze would blow through it. Her makeup was not all that heavy but at the same time it was not so light as to not be completely missed either, and there was just something about it that seemed to make her sapphire blue eyes shine in the night.

In Robert's mind, she was more than simply drop-dead gorgeous at the moment, she was probably the most beautiful thing on the planet or even in the whole universe, and the mere sight of her had caused him to lose all ability to speak. Seeing that effect she had gained the ability to inflict upon the young genius could not help but lead Kari to let out a small giggle and simply say, "I believe the appropriate quote here would be, 'Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot.'"

Robert finally got knocked out of his stupor at hearing that and simply smiled at the beauty that stood before him and smiled before he brought out the corsage saying, "I got this corsage for you. I hope you like it."

"It is beautiful," Kari gasped as she allowed Robert to slip the flowery accessory onto her free wrist. "Thank you Robert."

Robert smiled and mentally cheered in victory at this, and then offered her his arm, which she gladly took as he led her to his car. He heard Caz say something that sounded like you kids have fun now and no funny stuff, and if it were not for the fact he was in the company of such a lovely woman, he would have turned around and gone back to kick his best friend's but right then and there. After he and the lovely lady had gotten into Robert's dark red Camaro, they drove off to the restaurant. The whole time they were leaving and right until Robert drove out of sight, Caz watched and smirked, thinking to himself that his best friend had finally started to figure out something that had been extremely important that he would have missed out on if it were not for a simple moment of chance.

* * *

As the night went on, things had gone very smoothly for the young hero and his lovely companion. Robert ended up bringing Kari to one of the best and most romantic restaurants in town, and as soon as she saw that she practically jumped for joy on the inside. At that moment Kari had gained a few butterflies in her own stomach, but not nearly as many as Robert still had. While they ate the delicious, five star meal that they were served, they both simply just talked about how each of them had been, what they had been up to since they last saw each other, and basically anything else that had happened with each other. It seemed like the night was going to be absolutely perfect. Then Kari decided to ask Robert about something that she had wanted to ask him about since she had found out.

"Hey Robert," Kari queried. "What do you think about this whole 'Iron Man' thing that has been going through the news lately?"

"What do you mean," Robert asked looking for clarification and getting nervous at the same time.

"Do you think he is actually real? Like a real Iron Man?"

"Oh. Of course," Robert replied. "I mean it would be kind of hard to fake a lot of the things he has done so far. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Kari began, "I cannot really explain what it is, but there is something about him that seems almost too good to be true. I know he has done a lot to help people, but I guess until I actually see him or see him in action, I guess it will not really sink in that he really does exist."

"Yeah I think I understand what you mean," Robert told her. "I did not completely believe it either at first, until I saw the…," He quickly cut himself off before he said armory knowing that would have given away his secret identity at once.

"The what," Kari asked.

"The armor," Robert finally answered, saving himself from giving away his secret. "I mean it was just like the main one that was used in _Iron Man 3_, but it was definitely the real thing."

"You mean, you actually saw Iron Man," Kari asked excitedly.

"Yeah I did. Once," Robert replied nervously. "I saw him flying towards one of those buildings he performed a rescue at. I was in the area and just happened to look up at the sky when I saw him fly overhead." He made a lot of that story up, but the truth is someone did actually look up and see him flying by while he was heading for the mentioned building.

"Wow. That is amazing," Kari breathed. She then took a good look at the man sitting across from her. She had noticed a few times when he had stolen a glance at her to admire how she looked tonight, not that she thought she looked that beautiful; she was too modest to say that she looked anything like what Robert believed she did that night. However she would admit that if either one of them looked amazing it was the man sitting across from her. He certainly cleaned up very nicely and looked very handsome indeed. There had always been something about Robert that Kari had liked as more than just a friend, but she never actually said anything because they were both so focused on their own areas of study and they did not know each other very well back in college. Right now, however, as she looked at the man in front of her, she could not help but wonder what would have happened if one of them had actually come out and said something to the other and decided to go out like this sooner. She was about to say something else when suddenly a massive explosion shook the whole building. It was enough to nearly knock both of them out of their seats, and when Kari and Robert turned around they could not believe what they saw, but both for very different reasons.

There in the doorway, stood the Crimson Dynamo, who was clearly on a rampage. He was roaring and screaming at the top of his lungs as he fired each of his weapons at varying intervals and frequencies. Watching all this made it seem to all the people there, including Kari, that the large armored maniac had gone completely insane and on a wild rampage. To Robert on the other hand, there was something that had seemed wrong with the whole picture. When he fought the Crimson Dynamo earlier that week, the man had seemed to be a well trained, focused, honorable fighter. Yet now he was here going on a rampage like a crazy wild man, and Robert knew for a fact that there was no way a change as drastic as that could happen in a matter of just a few days time. Robert knew he had to figure out what had happened, and he also knew that he had to stop Dynamo as soon as possible before someone got hurt.

Knowing what might happen if he suddenly disappeared without an explanation Robert quickly turned and grabbed Kari's hand before leading her out of the building to a place he felt was safe enough for her to hide. "You stay here," he told Kari. "You should be safe until help arrives."

"Wait," Kari cried out. "What about you?"

"Um…I am going to go and call for help," Robert answered quickly. "I will be back for you as soon as I can be."

With that being said, Kari nodded and hid where Robert told her to. Then Robert ran off to a nearby secluded area where he was certain no one could see him. He looked around to make sure no one was close by to see what was about to happen, and after determining that it was okay, he sent out a mental call to his armor. A matter of minutes later, which to Robert seemed like an eternity, the Iron Man Mark Forty Two had arrived at his location. As soon as it was close enough to Robert the armor split into its individual components and then reformed around Robert changing the handsome young man into Iron Man once more. Once the face mask had locked into place finishing the armor's assembly around him, Robert then blasted off and flew back into the restaurant to find Crimson Dynamo still on a rampage as he was when Robert and Kari had left earlier. The difference being he had now scared off a great deal of the patrons that had come to the restaurant.

"Dynamo," Iron Man shouted out. "What do you think you are doing?! I thought you told me you were an honorable warrior who would not stoop to levels as low as this! So why are you doing this now?!"

When Crimson Dynamo heard his name called, he turned around and saw Iron Man standing in the new entrance that he had made earlier. Instead of responding to Iron Man's questions however, he simply gave off a feral roar that would have made Wolverine jealous and charged at the smaller sized hero. Iron Man saw this coming and immediately got back into the air successfully flying out of his now crazed opponent's reach. Dynamo then turned around and fired his energy beam directly at Iron Man which Iron Man was able to dodge effectively.

"Okay you do not want to talk," Iron Man observed. "That is okay. I will just beat you up now and get the answers out of you later then." He then fired his repulsor blasts at Dynamo and scored a direct hit to his enemy's chest.

The battle then raged on from there as Iron Man met Crimson Dynamo blow for blow once again, but this time Iron Man held the advantage he had gained right from the start. He knew since his opponent was rampaging like a wild animal that he would have the advantage, but he could not help but feel that this was not the type of rematch that Crimson Dynamo had wanted from him. Iron Man also knew that he would not be able to beat Dynamo in a straight up fight, and began analyzing his opponent along with J.A.R.V.I.S. to locate any weak points or strange things that he might have missed both from when he first encountered Dynamo and from when he entered the room. As he did, he continued to exchange blasts from his repulsors, and blows with both his fists and feet. While this was happening, no one had noticed Kari had snuck back into the room to see where Robert was, and what she saw a moment later, was Iron Man blasting into the air once more repulsor ready to fire. It was a sight that was truly one to behold.

"Iron Man," Kari breathed; completely stunned by the revelation she had just gained from the sight before her. "This is…He is amazing."

A moment later, Iron Man finally found something that may have been just the opening or oddity he was looking for. A small, gold device with glowing orange lights and appeared to hold a design that made it look like circuitry seemed to be implanted on the back of Crimson Dynamo's neck. Robert knew that was not there when he fought Crimson Dynamo before, and that left one question which he quickly posed to J.A.R.V.I.S. as he commanded, "J.A.R.V.I.S., identify the device located on the back of Crimson Dynamo's neck at once and state what its function may be."

_"At once sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied, and not a moment later the A.I. reported his findings stating, _"The device appears to be an ineffective form of a mental control interface system. It is likely that the Crimson Dynamo's actions tonight may be a result of this device."_

"Wait what do you mean by ineffective," Robert practically demanded. He knew from his battle so far that Crimson Dynamo was definitely acting like a drastically different person than he was when they first met.

_"While the device seems to allow one to alter the basic behavior of an individual, given the current analysis and circumstances it is likely that it is not fully functional as it would simply cause a person to either only receive commands from the device once it is in place or it causes the subject to become a violent berserker,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. quickly clarified.

"So if we blast that thing off him, we might be able to stop him," Robert asked.

_"That is a possibility that hold a ninety five percent chance of success sir."_

"Then modify the repulsors so that they will only harm the device but not cause harm to Dynamo himself," Iron Man commanded. "As soon as the device is destroyed, I will need you quickly redirect all power that we can to the Unibeam."

Iron Man then charged at Crimson Dynamo with his boot jets, and quickly swerved under a devastating right hook that the larger warrior tried to hit him with and he weaved around to Dynamo's back. Once he had done that, he achieved a quick, direct lock on the control disk on Dynamo's neck, and immediately fired his right repulsor blast. He hit the device dead on causing it to fall off Dynamo's neck and shut down completely, and then Crimson Dynamo seemed to stumble a little before groaning out in his usual thick Russian accent, "What happened? Where am I?"

As soon as he turned around he saw Iron Man standing there with his Unibeam ready to fire. Before Dynamo could do anything, he was hit dead center by Iron Man's fully charged Unibeam blast and sent hurtling across the room. Dynamo tried to rise, but quickly found himself pinned down by Iron Man's boot with his repulsor aimed directly at his face. As soon as he saw this, Crimson Dynamo did something the invincible hero did not expect at all. He let out a hearty laugh.

"Ha ha, you truly are the Iron Man," Crimson Dynamo said. "I thank you for freeing me from whatever despicable spell was placed upon me, and I accept my defeat at your hands with honor. Now finish me if that is what you desire."

Iron Man held his position for a moment, before finally standing down and holding out a hand to help Crimson Dynamo up. When Kari saw this from where she was watching she was shocked at first, but then she heard Iron Man speak to Crimson Dynamo and say, "You are a proud and honorable man who would rather face an opponent with his full strength in honorable combat. For that reason as well as the fact that I will never kill for no true reason, I will not finish you off. When we first fought each other you told me that you wished to face me in honorable combat only, but today when we were fighting you were clearly not yourself and apparently controlled by someone or something else. I doubt you would accept this as an honorable victory if our positions were reversed."

Crimson Dynamo's silence as he allowed Iron Man to help him up was all the confirmation the young hero needed. "In that case," Iron Man continued, "I think it would be best if we decided to settle this battle as a draw for now, and the next time we meet will be the true battle that you told me of."

Crimson Dynamo nodded in acceptance as he said, "I will agree to call this fight a draw Iron Man, but I will continue to view it as a victory for you. You fought and continue to fight me on equal terms with all of your power as I do, and at the same time when I was in peril you saved me. It would seem we are now true rivals."

Not a moment after he said that, both he and Iron Man each laughed out loud at that. Iron Man could not help but agree that the man before him was not a true enemy, but a powerful rival that would test his strength against his own to help one and other improve. He then thought of something, "Say, I was wondering if you remembered anything about how that control disk got on you in the first place."

"Nyet I do now," Dynamo replied sadly. "However, if you wish for my aid in tracking down this menace, I will give it to you gladly. Just remember Iron Man that from this day forward no one is allowed to defeat you in combat but myself."

Iron Man nodded in agreement and with that Crimson Dynamo turned and left, flying off into the night sky. Kari was about to walk up and speak with Iron Man when he too took off and flew away into the starry night sky. She could not help but let out a soft wow at the sight she had just saw, wondering who the man behind that metal mask truly was. A moment later, Robert came running in calling out to her, "Kari! Are you okay?"

"Yeah I am fine," Kari replied. "I just saw Iron Man. I just saw Iron Man fighting against this big guy calling himself Crimson Dynamo."

"What," Robert asked, feigning ignorance. He actually did notice Kari was watching from a little ways off which was why he worked quickly to end the fight. "What happened?"

"He won," Kari said. "And he is…amazing."

"I think you have him confused with someone else," Robert quipped out, making Kari laugh a little at his joke.

Admittedly Kari was a little mad that Robert had in a way left her alone in the middle of all this chaos, but right then she just could not allow herself to stay mad at him if she was ever mad at all. Robert then led Kari back to his car and drove her home for the night. Once they arrived there he led the young woman to the door and said goodnight for the night, but as he turned to leave he felt Kari's hand on his arm and heard asking him to wait for a moment. Robert turned around and asked, "What is it Kari?"

"Robert, I just want you to know I really did have a great time tonight," Kari told him. "Despite the craziness that had happened, it was absolutely perfect."

"Oh," Robert replied. "I am glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself."

"Also I was wondering if we could maybe do this again sometime," Kari then asked her face gaining a light blush.

Robert had developed a small blush of his own before he stuttered out, "Yeah sure. Anytime we are both able to."

Kari gave him a radiant smile at that and then, acting on pure impulse, walked up to him, and kissed Robert full on the lips. As soon as she broke it off, her blush had intensified greatly and she uttered a shy goodnight to him before going inside her home. Robert could only stand there in shock as he feebly waved at her in reply. As soon as he walked back to his car, he could only say one thing over and over again. "Whoa."

As Robert drove home, multiple things were on his mind. Crimson Dynamo had now officially declared them rivals, but what did that mean for the larger warrior? Was he truly a villain like the comic book character whose legacy he had taken on, or was he a hero in some small way? Another thing that bothered him was the control disk that was on Dynamo's neck. Where did that come from, who built it, and how did it get planted on Crimson Dynamo? He would be sure to call _Armory_ and give them a full report either tonight before turning in or first thing in the morning when he came in for his training session. The biggest thing on his mind was Kari and the kiss she had given him. Even though it only lasted a few seconds, it caused something to bring about a spark inside of him, and if the feelings she tried to communicate through that kiss were anything to go by Kari felt the same way. What did that mean? Did Kari have feelings for him similar if not the same as the feelings he had for her? He knew one thing as he drove home that night for certain. Kari was right, this night was absolutely perfect.

* * *

In an undisclosed location, Mister Fix was watching his multitude of monitors from the shadows as the reports of Iron Man and Crimson Dynamo's recent battle started coming in. "It would seem that the decision to attempt to test those control disks of yours on that oaf in an attempt to destroy Iron Man was a rather poor decision Controller." He told a man standing in the shadows.

As soon as he said it though, the man stepped forward a bit, but not enough to see anything more than the glimpse of the strange helmet like device on his head. "With all due respect, sir, I must disagree," Controller corrected. "While the control disk's test was a failure, it allowed me to see what flaws still remain within the device and I have already begun thinking of ways to improve upon it. You must also admit that this has allowed you to gain more knowledge on the so-called 'Iron Man'."

Mister Fix had to agree to that point. He then turned to Controller and immediately commanded, "Get working on those improvements and be ready to commence a new series of tests immediately after their completion. I do not wish to reveal our plans to Iron Man just yet so we cannot use them out in the public again so soon."

"By your order sir," Controller replied with a salute before turning to leave.

Mister Fix then turned back to the monitors and had them all focus in on the one individual he was most curious and concerned about, Iron Man. While he still did not know the identity of the mysterious armored hero, he had seen enough to know that he was still something of an amateur, but that was quickly changing. The young hero's recent battle with Crimson Dynamo had proved that beyond a doubt, he was improving and getting better by the day, if not by the minute. Very soon the young hero would become a problem to his operations if he did not take action soon, and so he hit a few commands on his console as he called in another man that was hidden in the shadows much like the controller was.

"Yes sir," the man queried in a rough, gravelly mechanical like voice.

"I believe that we may have to eliminate Iron Man sooner than we had anticipated," Fix told the new arrival. "You are to continue your mission involving that biological research lab that has recently gained a new member, but the moment you have a chance to engage Iron Man, you are to do so regardless of the consequences."

"Understood sir," the man replied in the same voice as earlier. "If I may ask sir, how goes your end of that assignment?"

Mister Fix smiled deviously at that. "All according to plan," he replied. "And it would seem the young lady is so excited that she does not even suspect even a small hint of deception at work in her business's new division."

The man saluted and left the room to prepare for their return to said business division. Mister Fix knew that he may be discovered at any moment, but it did not matter to him. His operations there were nearly complete, and once he had finished and was revealed, it would be far too late for Miss Kari Calypso.

* * *

**_AN: Wow I'm such a nice guy aren't I? Getting Gwyneth Paltrow in on the action at _Armory_, giving our hero a girlfriend along with a stellar night with said girlfriend, Turning Crimson Dynamo from Iron Man's archenemy into powerful rival, giving Robert his first kiss, revealing Mister Fix to be up to something sinister at Kari's new research division and telling some unknown assassin to be ready to eliminate Iron Man…oh oops. Yeah ignore that last one involving Fix; that actually wasn't so nice. Hehe. Anyways…_**

** Next time on _Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, Robert's new love life with Kari is going pretty well, but with all the times he has had to go and be Iron Man in the middle of their dates and time together, it is beginning to cause tension and raise suspicions. "What is so important that you need to just leave me so much Robert?" "Nothing really. It is just some stuff with my job." "Robert please, just tell me what is so important that you feel you need to keep it secret."**

** And if that's not all, Robert meets someone at Kari's new lab for developing her bio-tech research that somehow feels off to him. "My name is Felix. Felix Thompson." Suddenly Robert felt a strange sensation going off in his head that felt like a warning. "Nice to meet you," he finally replied as he nervously shook his hand.**

** However his attempts to secretly use the Iron Man armor to keep an eye on Kari and this Felix person hit a small bump when he gets caught one too many times. "As of now, I am grounding you until further notice until you finally figure out these suits are not your toys to take out for joy rides. You will be completely locked out and cut off from the suits until further notice." "What?! No you cannot do that!"**

** And things go from bad to worse when a new enemy shows up on the scene that clearly has it in for Iron Man, and reveals that Iron Man may be up against more than he can handle. "The boss thought you would become a problem someday Iron Man, so he had me ready just in I ever came across you." "Really, I'm flattered."**

** And Robert's not the only one with problems as a strange woman that Kari works with who seems obsessed with infiltration and espionage technology that could allow any force to destroy their enemies from within enemy ranks seems to have a problem with how Kari handles managing the research they perform. "I am telling you Doctor Calypso, this area of research is something we need to pursue if we want any money from anywhere." "I am sorry but as long as I have a say in the matter we will not develop technology that will be used as a weapon of any form." "You will regret this Doctor Calypso."**

** Can Robert regain access to his armors in order to get the answers he needs? Who is this mysterious assassin and who does he work for? And how far will Robert go to prove to Kari how much he cares for her and fully regain her trust? Find out on the next exciting chapter and first part of the first story arc saga of…_Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, _Of Masks and Rescues_! Till then read and review please!**


	3. Chapter 3: Of Masks and Rescues part 1

_**AN: When I had thought up the premise that this chapter follows I couldn't help but think back to the series **_**The Batman, _namely the two part adventure title Batgirl Begins. Oh and if you've seen Iron Man Armored Adventures, you might catch a few homages to that in this chapter as well. Personally, I thought that series gave the audience an easier way of relating to a teenage Tony Stark, but that's just me. Anyhow..._**

**_I do not own Iron Man or anything else in this story that is NOT an OC._**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Of Masks and Rescues**

**Sub-Chapter A: Secrets, Whips, and Mega Villains Oh My**

Twas the night before Halloween, and all through the city not a creature was stirring, aside from Iron Man who was fighting great villainy. It had not been a normal past few nights for the armored hero this past week, and to top it all off, now he was fighting numerous robotic warriors that had been created from highly sophisticated bio-technology, and were armed to the teeth, in an old military warehouse that had long been abandoned. He had flown in ready though, with his newest suit, the Iron Man Mark Seventeen, better known as the Heartbreaker armor. He charged his opponents and unleashed a flurry of repulsor blasts left, right, and in every other direction possible. All the while drawing closer to his main goal, and it was a good thing the suit was known as the Heartbreaker, because his opponent was about to get her heart broken.

Yes, Iron Man was facing off with a rather lovely woman, if the fact she had the figure of a fashion model and her long dark hair was anything to go by. This woman's beauty could only be judged by her figure and hairstyle because her face was currently hidden behind a golden colored mask with blood red eyes. The rest of her attire consisted of a full body suit that was midnight blue with hints of very dark grey in the area of the chest, lower arms, and lower legs just before her black boots. She also had two laser weapons in holsters on both sides of her hips, and a rather large gun strapped to her back. She was not fighting at the moment, but was actually just watching the battle with a scowl on her face.

"You are becoming quite an annoyance Iron Man," The raven haired masked woman snarled at the young hero.

"Well you are not exactly great company yourself Madame Mask," Iron Man quipped out as he blasted another bio-tech drone away. Truth be told, he was beginning to get annoyed of the now identified Madame Mask. He had been after her for a few days now, and for multiple reasons, one of which being the fact that she had issued a threat against a certain red haired love interest of his. Despite his determination though, he was not fairing as well as he would have liked.

He was quickly becoming overwhelmed, and it seemed that with every bio-tech weapon that Madame Mask used that he destroyed, there was another one waiting in the wings. One such example would be the fact that the cables that littered the ground of the warehouse they were in had seemed to come alive and ensnare him completely, when he knew for a fact it was actually an alternate form of nanotechnology that was similar to his _Extremis R_, only designed for destruction, manipulation, and corruption of specific machines.

He tried his hardest to fight back, but the cables had him completely immobilized, even when he tried to fly out of their grasp with his repuslor jets. He then found himself being hauled directly up to Madame Mask herself. She finally stood up to face the hero Mask to Helmet.

"Oh now why must we fight anyhow," Madame Mask asked in a flirtatious voice. "Why not simply kiss and make up." With that, she placed a hand over the mouth piece of her mask a blew a kiss that was laced with nanotechnology into his face. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a problem, but in this case, the nanobots in the mist were able to find a way through his armor and into his lungs. As soon as it had entered Iron Man's mouth, he suddenly stopped struggling, and fell limp. The cables then released the technological hero and he went from standing to kneeling down before the raven haired woman, going so far as to take her hand and kissing it like a gentleman would a lovely lady.

"Well now," Madame Mask boasted to her captive. "Who can possibly save you now Mr. Samuels?"

Yes there tied up and gagged, was one Caz Samuels. He had been taken hostage by the masked psycho to be used as leverage in her revenge against one Doctor Calypso, and as she had said it seemed there was no one left to save the young man.

"I think I might be able to handle that," an unknown, distinctively female voice said from above them. Mask looked up and saw something she had not entirely been expecting. There in the sky light that Iron Man had burst through earlier, was what looked like a female Iron Man clad in mostly dark red armor, with silver on her face mask and in other points of the suit. Jets were also included on her back, and her eyes glowed with a distinct gold color.

Madame Mask recognized this armored hero from an encounter she had with her earlier this week when she first ran into Iron Man and breathed out, "Rescue."

"For the last time, my name is Iron Woman," The female armored hero retorted, clearly displeased with the fact that everyone insisted on calling her by the name of the female armored avenger from the comics.

"Well soon it will not matter what you are called," Madame Mask said as she walked up to Iron Man and wrapped her arms around the hero like a woman would her boyfriend. She then spoke in a soft tone as she commanded, "Iron Man. Be a dear and destroy your former friend there will you?"

"Yes Madame," Iron Man replied in an almost mechanical voice. Rescue, or Iron Woman's, eyes grew wide behind her face mask as her new partner in crime fighting said that, and then suddenly blasted towards her repulsors charged.

"Guess you were serious about you not wanting me to be your new partner in crime fighting," The female Iron Hero quipped out nervously. She then engaged her fellow armored hero in an aerial dog fight, with repulsors flying between the two, but with one being more hesitant than the other.

Now one could look at this scene and wonder many things. What is happening here? Why is Rescue now suddenly on the scene? How is this woman calling herself Madame Mask controlling Iron Man and why is she holding Caz hostage? In order to receive the answers to any of these questions, we need simply go back to where this all started, and if you think that this whole mess started with a psychotic woman named Madame Mask then you would be wrong. This whole thing actually started with a completely different and nearly unrelated problem that occurred nearly three weeks ago.

* * *

Earlier that same month, things had been going rather well for the man behind the armor. Robert had been able to do plenty of good as Iron Man, his training with the armor had been progressing smoothly, and what he considered to be the best part of all was that he was now dating the lovely Kari Calypso, his old college crush, and they were enjoying a very happy relationship. He was really happy about the fact that the woman he loved so much actually seemed to return his feelings, but there was one small problem with their current relationship.

The problem being Iron Man, because Robert was always finding himself running late for or having to race off in the middle of some of their dates in order to do his job as the invincible hero. Not that he did so without providing a valid, yet vague excuse, but the fact was he was doing so quite a bit and needless to say it was starting to wear on his girlfriend's patience.

"What is so important that you need to just leave me so much Robert," Kari asked Robert one night in the middle of their most recent dinner date. She had constantly asked this very same question many times before, but had always received less than satisfactory answers. She was starting to get fed up with it and was hoping this time she would get some real answers from her boyfriend.

Sadly, that was not the case, as once again Robert gave his standard reply saying, "Nothing really. It's just some stuff with my job."

Kari was seriously annoyed with that answer by now, because it was the answer Robert used so much that sometimes it seemed like he was a song on repeat. She was also beginning to worry as to what that might mean for their relationship if he did not seem to trust her enough with something that seemed so important. She then place her hand on Robert's as she softly said, "Robert please, just tell me what is so important that you feel you need to keep it secret."

Robert was now stunned into silence. He honestly wanted to tell Kari his secret, but knew that if he did he would be breaking one of the most important rules of _Armory_. He simply closed his eyes as he sighed and then looked her in the eye as he said, "I promise you, there is nothing going on. It is just some important stuff that comes with my new job."

Kari knew that everything he told her was a massive lie, but she knew that she was not going to get anywhere further tonight so she decided to drop it for now. The rest of the evening was spent as usual, with the two of them enjoying a delicious meal, and talking about one and other, and about Kari's work. Apparently she had a coworker that felt they should use her research and that of the entire facility to further infiltration and military technology, which Kari was against with a passion as anyone who knew her could tell you.

The night ended as Robert once again dropped Kari off at her current place of residence, and Kari then remembered something that she had almost forgotten. "Rob, I was wondering if you would like to visit me at work later this week. I would like the chance to show you exactly what I am working on."

The real reason for this was that Kari was hoping that showing Robert some of her most personal research and projects that it would get him to open up to her and finally tell her what it was that he felt he had to hide from her. That, and she was also hoping to fend off the advances of another coworker that did not seem to take no for an answer and with Robert there that would become much easier.

Robert thought about it for a moment and finally replied, "Sure Kari. I would love to."

Kari instantly brightened up with a smile that could illuminate the darkest of nights. A smile that Robert loved seeing on her so much. They then kissed goodnight and Kari turned and entered her home. As Robert was returning to his car, his phone went off playing the distinctive theme song of _Iron Man: Armored Adventures_. He pulled it out and saw the caller id had shown it was a specially blocked call, like it was always did to indicate that he was getting a call from _Armory_.

"Hello," He said as he pressed the answer button, placing the phone by his face.

_"__Kid,"_ Downey's voice came from the other end. _"We need you to come in right away. We have some things that you will need to and want to see. Also, I want you to take note that we waited until after your date with your lover before calling you so you can be grateful for that."_

"She is not my lover Downey," Robert growled into the phone. He then composed himself and said he was on his way.

* * *

A few hours later that night, our hero had arrived at _Armory_, and walked up to Downey and Paltrow who were waiting for him in the command center. As soon as he asked what it was he needed to see, the two movie actors pointed to where the armors were raised up to from the _Hall of Armors_. He looked and could not believe what he saw.

"Whoa, two new suits," Robert exclaimed as he saw two new Iron Man suits standing ready to for action.

"That is correct kid," Downey replied as he indicated the two suits starting with the red and silver one. "The Mark Thirty Three, code named Silver Centurion. Its speeds are able to nearly match the Mark Forty Two and it has repulsors that have a higher level of accuracy since it is designed for energy amplification and redirection. It is also more highly resistant to energy discharges of any kind. That is in case you find yourself dealing with energy weapons similar to Crimson Dynamo's."

Downey then paused before indicating the other suit. "The Mark Seventeen, code named Heartbreaker armor," he then continued. "Its an artillery level RT suit and can fire more powerful blasts from the unibeam without losing too much energy. It is also able to fire both narrow and wide beams and its capable of generating an even more powerful repulsor shield than any other suit."

"We just completed the work on them both," Paltrow told Robert who continued to stare in awe. "Meaning that both of these suits are now ready for deployment alongside the Mark Forty Two."

Robert then looked at the two and they both nodded telling him he could go up and get a closer look. He then walked up and place one hand on each armor one at a time. He could not believe that he now had two new armors in his arsenal of suits. He now felt more confident than ever about handling bad guys. He was about to ask if he could take one of them for a test run when Downey replied to the unasked question with a curtly no.

"These suits are not toys kid," Downey told him in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "You cannot just take them joyriding like a sports car. I understand that you want to give these suits a try to make sure that you can use them effectively, but we are going to have you do that in your next training session."

Robert nodded in understanding and then moved to leave for the night so he could rest up for the following day, and his visit to Kari's workplace. As he was about to head out though, Paltrow stopped him and said, "We have also finished working on something else for you."

She then held out an item to him that made him gasp again, and then smirk in excitement at what the item Paltrow showed him meant and what he could do with it later on.

* * *

The following day, Kari was on her way to the front entrance of _Tomorrow Genes_ where the receptionist told her that Robert was waiting. After a long walk she finally arrived at her destination, and then had to blink twice at the site of the man that is her boyfriend. His outfit had gone through a complete change in comparison to what it normally was, which she just saw yesterday. He now sported a black shirt and dark colored jeans in comparison to his usual red shirt and blue jeans, and a pair of gold tinted sunglasses now adorned his face. The biggest change however, was his jacket, which was now a bright red similar to that of Iron Man's armor, with gold stripes in place of where the old green stripes once were, and on his left side where his old jacket's company insignia was located, was now what looked like a light blue arc reactor. As she took in Rob's new look one word came to her mind about his new appearance. Hot.

Robert smirked at the reaction his girlfriend was having to his new appearance. It was actually the item that Paltrow had given him before he left _Armory_ the other night, and in a sense it was his official uniform. He had been told once he received it he should wear it as often as possible, so naturally he could not wait to show it off to his friends. When Caz saw his new look he was mildly impressed, but then again this is Caz we were talking about so that did not mean much. The only person whose opinion really mattered to him was standing right in front of him now, clearly speechless. "Well, what do you think," Robert finally asked his girlfriend.

Kari finally shook herself out of her stupor and replied, "You look amazing. Where did you get that?"

"It was a gift from one of my bosses," Robert answered. "So shall we see the wonders of your workplace?"

Kari simply nodded as she felt his hand take hold of hers. She vaguely heard him tell her to lead on, and then she simply did just that. She would be the first to admit that while Robert's new job had caused him to suddenly feel the need to keep so many secrets from her, it did seem to have a few perks. That is if his new outfit was anything to go by. She still intended to find out what was so important that he felt he had to hide it, but for now she was going to enjoy the sight of him in his new wardrobe. There was just something about it that seemed to suit him perfectly. The sound of a cough nearby snapped her out of her musings and she turned to look to where it came from. "Yes," she asked.

"I am sorry to bother you Doctor Calypso, but I am afraid Ms. Mascara is insistent on speaking to you about her recent project again," her coworker told her.

"Yes thank you for that warning Doctor Thompson," Kai replied. "I will deal with it. Later." She then noticed he was sending a questioning look at Robert and said, "Doctor Thompson this is my friend Robert Landry. He is visiting to see the work we do here."

"So you are the infamous Robert Landry that Doctor Calypso speaks so highly of and about so often," Doctor Thompson stated. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Robert got a good look at the man, and noted he had dark skin, bald, and had an average build. He was decked out in a basic researcher coat and had on black dress pants, along with a red dress shirt and silver tie. "Well I am afraid I have not heard anything about you Mister…," Robert trailed off.

"My apologies Mister Landry. My name is Felix. Felix Thompson."

Suddenly Robert felt a strange sensation going off in his head that felt like a warning. "Nice to meet you," he finally replied as he nervously shook his hand. He did not know why at the moment but something was telling him not to trust this Doctor Felix Thompson and that he should keep an eye on him for a while.

"So what is your area of study here Doctor Thompson," Robert asked.

"I do not have a specific area. I simply work as an aid to the lovely Doctor Calypso and anyone else that works here. To be a part of the research into worthwhile discoveries and advancements is reward enough."

"I see," Robert replied, now suddenly a bit more suspicious of this man.

Suddenly, another female scientist came storming up to them with a folder of what Robert believed to be some form of research in her hand. She had dark red hair, dark grey eyes, and a figure that seemed to be that of a fashion model. She wore a lab coat like everyone else here, and a grey dress shirt with a matching skirt.

"Doctor Calypso I must insist on speaking to you," the red haired woman stated.

"This is not a good time Jennifer," Kari stated, with annoyance clear in her voice. Robert felt that, if one were to judge on that alone, they could tell that Kari did not like this woman.

"Please Kari hear me out," the now identified Jennifer stated. She then spied Thompson and the one person in the group she could not recognize. "Well hello there hottie," she commented in a clearly flirtatious tone. "And who might you be?"

You could tell that Kari was more than a little upset by the fact this woman was so obviously trying to flirt with her boyfriend. She then stepped next to Robert and stated, "This is Robert Landry, Jennifer. My _boyfriend_," with clear emphasis on the last word.

A slight look of disappointment crossed Jennifer's face before she brushed it off and continued on speaking to Robert like Kari was not the one that had spoken. "A pleasure to meet you Mister Landry. I had assumed that you were not as impressive as you had sounded given how Doctor Calypso spoke of you, but I can see I was mistaken in that judgment. It seems she did do you justice on her description."

"I am flattered," Robert replied, seemingly oblivious to the obvious flirting she was doing. At least until he asked, "I would normally like know the name of the woman that is attempting to flirt with me though before I tell her to stop."

She seemed taken aback by that, along with Kari as well. For as long as she had known him, Kari had always thought Robert was oblivious to these types of things even when it was as obvious as day, and yet just now he had stated that he had noticed the attempt to flirt with him. Though Jennifer did not let it bother her for long. "I am sorry. I seemed to have forgotten my manners. I am Doctor Jennifer Mascara. Maybe you could persuade your…girlfriend to consider furthering my research."

"I am as unable to sway her on certain subjects as you would be Doctor Mascara," Robert replied as he quickly figured out why Kari had a tone of annoyance with this woman when she first arrived.

"If this is about those advancements in bio-technology weaponry then my answer is the same as it has been in the past," Kari stated as she wrapped her arms around Robert's sending a silent message that said "Back off bitch. He is mine."

"Please doctor," Jennifer begged as she opened the folder to show Kari what it was. Robert saw a picture of what she was developing, and from what he could tell it looked almost like a mask of some sort. "My _Project: Masquerade_ will be a breakthrough unlike any other. It will allow an individual to assume the appearance of anyone they wish with a simple biometric scan and a thought. Think of what this would mean for infiltration or spy missions."

"That is exactly my point. It is a weapon that you are proposing like those bio-technology drones you tried to get authorized," Kari stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

"I am telling you Doctor Calypso, this area of research is something we need to pursue if we want any money from anywhere," Mascara stated, clearly getting frustrated.

"I am sorry but as long as I have a say in the matter we will not develop technology that will be used as a weapon of any form," Kari told her, with a tone that left no room for argument. Robert noted that Kari seemed more than simply annoyed now. She was seriously mad. He had learned a long time ago you do not want to make Kari Calypso mad unless you had a death wish.

"You will regret this Doctor Calypso," Mascara snarled. She then moved to spin on her heal before leaning next to Robert and whispered, "Anytime you want to drop little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes there, let me know and I will be sure to make it worth your while."

Robert could not help but feel a bit of heat rise to his cheeks at that, and barely noticed as she stormed off. Kari scowled at this, because she had heard what Mascara had said. She then grabbed Robert's had and dragged him off to her lab. Doctor Thompson watched the two go and then thought to himself, _I may have to step things up. Mister Landry could compromise my plans. I will deal with him after Iron Man has been dealt with though_. If one were watching from a short distance away, they would have sworn that his eyes had started to glow red for a moment.

* * *

"I cannot believe her," Kari muttered under her breath. She was still fuming about Mascara, for multiple reasons. Robert would have said something to comfort her, but he knew what would happen if he said the wrong thing and decided to take the smarter and safer route and kept his mouth shut for the moment.

Finally, Kari took a deep breath to calm down, and turned to Robert and told him, "Sorry about all that. Mascara has been trying to get authorization for bio-tech weapons ever since I started here. I have always thought she was both stubborn and overly flirtatious."

"Yeah I think I got that," Robert commented. "I thought she was a little overly aggressive. I always hated that kind of girl. It is another reason why I always preferred girls more like you"

Kari giggled lightly at that. She was glad that Robert was not interested in that flirt, Mascara. They then reached their destination, her lab. They entered and spent the next few hours looking over her work. A vast majority of the research was aimed towards medical research and development of new treatments that could one day save lives. Finally she showed him one of her biggest projects. "Have a look at this," Kari told the red jacketed man.

Robert took the notes she was holding out to him and looked it over. He was actually surprised at what he saw. "Kari," he breathed. "This looks like it is…"

"Yes it is," Kari finished proudly. "The first stages of research for an actual working version of a regenerative treatment that would be used to allow one to recover from crippling injuries. Just like the-"

"Extremis serum in Iron Man 3," Robert finished. "I remember. I also remember there was a serious flaw that was rather explosive."

"Yes we have actually encountered a similar problem," Kari commented. "We have only been able to test it on plants, because every test result that seemed to work eventually became combustible. It would not be as major an explosion as the ones in Iron Man 3, but they are a problem that we need to deal with before we even consider testing on animals."

"Kari this is amazing," Robert commented. "If you can get this working like you intend to, you could accelerate medical science by years, win all kinds of awards, and you would be one of the world's leading medical scientists without question."

"I know all of that Robert, but you know I am not doing it for the glory," Kari told him. "I do this because I want to help people. To save lives, change them for the better. That is all I have ever wanted to do with this research, and my supposed genius."

Robert smiled at this, because Kari had pretty much just echoed his words about what he wanted to do with his own genius and skills, and his words to Downey when he first met him that fateful day when he first arrived in _Armory_ and became Iron Man. It was like she was another him in a way, but in another way she was also a good person and had truly good intentions. "You are incredible," Robert breathed.

Kari just looked at him when he said that. She had heard him right, but she could not believe that he actually said that aloud. She blushed at that and knew that he meant what he said; just as she knew she felt the same way about him. There was one thing that she still needed to know though. She decided to ask again, "Robert, I know I am repeating myself, but I need to know what it is you feel you should hide from me."

Robert simply walked over to Kari and placed a hand on her cheek as he caressed her face. "I know you probably will not understand my reasons," He told her softly. "But I promise you, I would only keep a secret from you if it meant keeping you safe."

Kari felt touched that he cared for her safety so much, but at the same time she was hurt that he would not tell her what it was he was hiding. She did not know if she should be upset with him or if she should hug him, but suddenly she found that decision taken out of her hands when Robert enveloped her lips in his own. It was not a deep kiss, but all the same it conveyed many of his feelings to her. His kindness, his concerns for and her safety, his love…it was all being expressed through that simple action, and she felt her heart begin to become a flutter with the sensation of feeling all those feelings of his leading her to return the kiss as she wrapped her arms around him.

As soon as Robert broke it off to take a moment to breathe, he told her in a soft whisper, "I promise you that one day I will tell you everything. Until then, will you be willing to wait?"

Kari hesitated for a moment before simply nodding as she enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms. She wanted to stay like that forever, but she knew that was impossible which was quickly proven to be true when Thompson came in saying, "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

"No," Robert told him as he released Kari from his hold. "I was actually just about to leave. I just remembered that I have something I need to attend to at work."

Kari felt disappointed that Robert had to leave so soon, but soon felt better when he leaned in and whispered that he would try to make up his sudden need to leave later that week over dinner. Robert then made to leave when he noticed Thompson was watching them both very closely. That alone made him uneasy and the strange warning sensation he was getting in his head coming back did not make him feel any easier, so he figured that he should look into this guy a little more thoroughly.

* * *

Robert spent the rest of that day researching everything he could about Felix Thompson. He looked into everything and found next to nothing, at least on his computer. He then headed over to _Armory_ to see what he could find there, and he was not disappointed. Aside from Thompson's address, which he was able to find easily enough on his computer, he found that up until a few weeks ago Felix Thompson did not seem to exist. In fact, it was almost mere days after Iron Man first showed up that he seemed to just appear. That in and of itself was suspicious, and Robert would have kept looking into it had Downey not found him looking into it without authorization. Needless to say, the big guy was ticked off and warned him that if he went around using _Armory_ resources for "his own personal gain" again that he would regret it. Robert knew that he needed to figure out what the real story about Thompson was before Kari was put in danger, and he knew that there was only one way to do it.

That night Robert had armored up in the Mark Forty Two and flown to the address he had found. Once he had arrived he landed on a nearby rooftop so that he could see inside while not being seen himself. He spent a few hours waiting for Thompson to return home, because he doubted that he would find anything by going inside himself, and after Thompson had returned he spent another few hours watching him do next to nothing.

"It is official. Stake outs are boring," Robert finally concluded as soon as J.A.R.V.I.S. told him it had been three long hours since Thompson had come home while he sat on the rooftop he had been occupying.

_"__Agreed sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. Then the AI told him something that one could actually consider to be either useful or important. _"Sir it would appear that Mister Thompson is getting a phone call from an unknown source. I believe that whoever is on the other end of this call maybe someone that he deems extremely important given what his reaction was."_

"Finally, we are getting somewhere," Robert sighed as he stood up. "J.A.R.V.I.S., I need you to record everything that is being said in this conversation. Do not stop for anything or any reason until the whole thing is in your memory banks, and start tracing this call while you are at it."

_"__Understood sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. Finally something seemed to be going right for the young hero in this little investigation that is until he got some news that was most definitely worrying. _"Sir the armor's remote control systems have been engaged. The Mark Forty Two is being forced to return to _Armory_."_

"What," Robert cried. "No wait. Do not return to _Armory_. J.A.R.V.I.S. abort that command now!"

_"__I am sorry sir. It is already too late for that,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied as the suit's propulsion system kicked in and blasted the young hero back to the secret underground facility.

A moment later that came far too quick for Robert, the young hero was sitting in the command center with Downey and Paltrow giving him the look a parent gives their child when they had been caught doing something they should not have been. They had gone on for some time how Robert had no authorization to take the armor out for a "joyride", and how he had been completely irresponsible in doing so. They never gave him a chance to explain, not that he really wanted to at the moment considering he felt that they did not deserve to know seeing as they pulled him back before he could find out anything. Truth was, J.A.R.V.I.S. had fully recorded the entire phone conversation the Thompson had, and from what he could tell based on what he heard before being forced to return to _Armory_, it was exactly what he was waiting for. All he had to do was play back the rest of the recording later on once this was over and he would have what he needed to prove that Thompson was not what he seemed on the surface.

That was the plan, until Downey completely destroyed any ideas of that with two last sentences. "As of now, I am grounding you until further notice until you finally figure out these suits are not your toys to take out for joy rides. You will be completely locked out and cut off from the suits until further notice."

"What?! No you cannot do that!" Robert cried in protest. He needed to get into J.A.R.V.I.S.'s memory banks to access the recording.

"Watch me," Downey replied. "Now get out and go home kid."

Any protest Robert had died in his throat. He doubted that they would even listen to what he had to say, so he just stormed out saying, "Fine then, but when that creep causes something bad to happen to Kari's research facility do not come crying to me."

That got Paltrow's attention, at least as far as anyone could tell. Downey's expression remained as neutral as Agent Coulson's when he found out something that made him mad. They both heard what Robert said and neither one of them knew how to react. One thing they did know, if what Robert said was true, then they knew the man would be back later tonight with or without authorization.

* * *

That night, Robert had snuck out of his apartment and back into _Armory_. He knew what he had to do, and he was going to do it no matter what. It was a simple plan, sneak into _Armory_ and then hack into J.A.R.V.I.S. to get the recording that he needed. Robert was just hoping it was going to be as simple as it sounded.

He was able to get back into _Armory_ easily enough, but then he hit a snag when J.A.R.V.I.S. rejected all his attempts to get back in. He was beginning to get more than a little frustrated, until he figured that he could try something else using a security bypass in the system. He smirked in triumph when he succeed, and then jumped when someone behind him coughed.

"What do you think you are doing," A feminine voice asked.

Robert turned around and saw Paltrow standing there, arms crossed, with a piercing gaze. He then sighed and decided that now he had a chance to explain himself, so he took a deep breath and explained everything from start to finish. When he finished Paltrow had a much more understanding look and asked, "Why did you not tell us this before?"

"I tried to," Robert explained with a look of annoyance. "But you and Downey were too busy lecturing me about taking the armors for joyrides to let me get even one word in."

Paltrow could not help but look sheepish at that. She quickly shook herself out of it and restored Robert's access to the armors and J.A.R.V.I.S. Robert smiled at that and asked, "Hey J.A.R.V.I.S. did you miss me?"

_"__I would be lying if I were to say that your presence was missed during your brief absence Mister Landry,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied to the young hero.

"Well now that we have dealt with the pleasantries, we should get working," Robert announced. "J.A.R.V.I.S., how much of that phone conversation were you able to record?"

_"__I was able to obtain a recording of the entire conversation sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. you are the greatest," Robert cheered. "Play back everything."

_"__Of course sir,"_ the AI replied as the recording started up.

_"__I have an update for you,"_ Thompson's voice said.

_"__I am listening sir. What are your orders,"_ a strange rough, gravelly mechanical like voice replied.

_"__It would seem that Doctor Calypso's research into a fully functional Extremis solution may be further along than we originally believed. If we are to obtain it we need to move now. Also, I believe it would be beneficial if we were to acquire the bio-technology research of Miss Mascara."_

_"__Understood sir, but what of my other objective?"_

_"__For now it is irrelevant. If we intend to seize the research performed by either of those two women then we need to do so now."_

_"__And what are my orders should they appear and attempt to interfere?"_

_"__They will have to be taught the hard way that no one interferes in my operations without some form of repercussions. Therefore, you are to make sure that they do not leave the building to tell anyone. Ever."_

_"__Understood Mister Fix. I will carry out your orders and attack at noon tomorrow."_

With that final line the recording ended. Robert was now beyond worried. Kari's life was now definitely in danger, and now he understood why he had that strange warning sense about Thompson, or rather Fix. There was something he did not understand though. "Who is this so-called Mister Fix?"

Paltrow was as white as a ghost, but all the same she answered saying, "Someone we were hoping was just a myth, or that we would have more time before you encountered him."

Robert could no longer stand at the computer. His girlfriend was in trouble, as well as many other people. He could not just stand by and do nothing. He quickly made his way over to the center of the room to attempt to armor up, but as soon as he did he found that the armor was not rising up out of the floor as usual.

"What is going on," he asked.

"I was only able to give you back access to J.A.R.V.I.S. and the computer systems, not your armors," Paltrow replied.

"Are you kidding me? I need to get armored up and stop that guy and save those people and Kari now," Robert all but screamed. He hated the idea of the one woman he cared about more than anything being in danger while there was nothing he could do about it.

"Relax kid you will save them, because Iron Man will be waiting for when those guys show up at noon tomorrow. Plus he will be ready for anything," Downey's voice said. Robert and Paltrow spun to where the voice came from and saw the man himself standing there with a smile on his face and his arms crossed.

"How long have you been here," Robert asked.

"Long enough to know I might have jumped the gun with the punishment," Downey replied.

"You think?"

"Do you think that you could refrain from rubbing it in until after we save your girlfriend and all those researchers? Fix is not stupid; he will have planned for everything. My question is, what are you going to do?"

"You do not have to worry about that," Robert replied with a smirk. "I have got a plan."

* * *

The following morning at _Tomorrow Genes_, Kari was sitting at her desk writing out equations that she was hoping could help her perfect the "_Extremis Solution_", as everyone had insisted on calling it. While she was doing so, she was musing over in her head all the things that Robert had told her the other day when he came to visit. How he said that he would only keep a secret from her if it meant keeping her safe, how he promised that he would tell her what he was hiding eventually and that she would just have to be patient, and most of all how he showed her he meant what he said when he kissed her. Her heart skipped a beat every time she thought about that last one. He had actually kissed her, and not just on the cheek but full on the lips. She had loved every second of that, and yet she felt worried about him. What was so important about this secret of his that he felt that telling her would be dangerous to her? I was not as though something in the building would explode if he told her right?

Her thoughts were then disturbed by the very thing she was just thinking of, as an explosion rocked the building. She quickly bolted out of her seat and through the door to see what had happened. When she arrived at the scene, she was shocked by what she saw. There in the hallway, next to a giant hole in the wall, was a large man dressed in mostly black with hints of dark crimson on his forearms, shoulders, and lower legs and boots, with hands that looked almost robotic had she not seen his fingers. His face was covered by a strangely shaped helmet that was crimson all over save for the eyes which were black around the edges with white in the center where the pupils would be. What really caught her attention was what appeared to be coming out of his lower arms near his hands, two long and apparently lengthening cables that looked like metallic energy whips which were crackling with some strange electrical energy. In all senses of the words, the man before her looked very menacingly, dangerous.

The black and crimson clad individual used his strange cables to grab hold of what looked like numerous notes and vials, all of which Kari recognized as those of her work. "Hey," she shouted out. "What do you think you are doing?"

The man then turned to face Kari and chuckled in a dark, mechanical, gravelly voice before saying "Why hello. You must be Doctor Calypso."

The sound of his voice made Kari jump a little in fear, and that fear was then magnified when his free cable snaked over to her and floated dangerously close to her face. "I do not know what you want," Kari suddenly said, finding her courage. "But I will not let you take the research I have worked so hard on."

"Funny," the man told her in the same voice, still sounding calm. "The boss said you might try to interfere. He was very specific in what to do if that was the case."

"And what would that be," Kari asked with fear now evident in her voice.

"To remove you. Permanently."

Kari would have tried to run, but the cable that was already around her suddenly moved to her legs and caused her to trip as she moved. She then looked up to see the man standing over her preparing to strike as he reeled the cable back. Kari closed her eyes in fear waiting for the end, but surprisingly it never came. Timidly, Kari opened her eyes again to see that the cable was being held back by a certain red and gold clad individual who was flying just outside the nearby hole in the wall. Her excitement and relief showed in her voice as she screamed out his name. "Iron Man!"

"That is my name, so please do not wear it out," the hero quipped. He then faced the man whose weapon he was holding back as he yanked on the cable hard thus pulling him back. "And what should we call you tough guy? The whip? Whipinator?"

The other man chuckled in amusement, and mild excitement "The boss thought you would become a problem someday Iron Man, so he had me ready just in I ever came across you."

"Really, I'm flattered," Iron Man replied sarcastically. He moved forward ready to attack the mystery assailant, when said person used his other, now free cable to lash out at him knocking the armored hero onto his back and rendering him motionless. He had used the cable which held the research and test vials to pocket said objects before he had attacked, so he was not worried about escaping with his objective.

"Oh and by the way," the gravelly voiced man said. "The name is Whiplash."

Whiplash started walking slowly over to where Iron Man was lying on the ground. With each step he took, Kari felt her fears increasing. She was praying that what she just saw happen was only her imagination, but every time she opened and closed her eyes, she saw the same thing. Iron Man on the ground, seemingly defeated by just one blow, and Whiplash slowly walking over to the fallen hero to ensure he was successful in defeating the downed hero. Kari then silently prayed that Iron Man would get up; that he would fight back against the whip wielding villian; that he would save her and everyone here, but none of these prayers seemed to be answered. Kari felt tears start to roll down her face as she prayed that something would happen to save both her and the fallen hero from this diabolical, gravelly voiced menace, and most of all that Robert was there to save her.

"Well that was disappointing," Whiplash commented when he finally stood over the armored hero. He then gave the helmet a light kick only for the helmet to disconnect and fall to floor revealing that the armor was empty. Kari was startled and Whiplash was furious.

"What? That blasted coward does not even face me himself," Whiplash shouted as he lashed out at the armor, causing it to fall apart into its separate components, though in his eyes it was being completely destroyed.

He snarled and turned to Kari. "Maybe killing you will make me feel better. Please make it interesting and scream, or cry in despair."

Kari was about to do both of those things when she saw the suit was empty, and once again braced herself when she saw Whiplash's attack stopped once again, and this time it seemed to be in a much more firm grip. Whiplash spun around and saw what looked like Iron Man, but in a completely different armor. This armor being deep crimson red in color with golden and silver highlights, and was more sleek and triangular, which gave it sharp, crisp look.

"How? Who?" Whiplash cried out in confusion and rage.

"Do yourself a favor Whiplash, and do not strain yourself," the hero replied as he yanked the villain back once more. As soon as Whiplash was close enough this time though, he received a hard fist to the face that sent him flying in another direction as the hero finished saying "And by the way the name is Iron Man."

With that Whiplash was officially mad, and he lashed out at the armored hero who was now wearing his new Mark Thirty Three, Silver Centurion armor. Iron Man easily dodged and rushed in with jets, his fist clenched and swinging in a powerful uppercut that struck home. Whiplash now saw that he was at a disadvantage in close combat, so he decided to switch to lashing out with his whips to keep Iron Man at a distance. As soon as a whip had wrapped around Iron Man, the hero fired a repulsors blast, which was more powerful than usual due to Iron Man draining the energy from the whip into the armor and channeling it to the repulsors.

Kari could only watch in amazement until the building shook again. The battle was clearly causing the building to become unstable. Kari had to get everyone out before the building came down on them. She ran over to the fire alarm and pulled it down hard as she grabbed the microphone nearby to let everyone know that it was not a drill. She did not notice some of the ceiling start to come down above her. She did not realize the danger she was in until Iron Man had blasted Whiplash away with a powerful blast and flew over to her, forcing down onto her back and kneeling over her to protect her from the rumble that fell just a moment after he raised his left arm to the height of his head to guarantee her safety.

Kari could only stare in amazement at what he had just done for her, realizing that he truly was a hero, and then shock as he said "I'll get you out of here as soon as I can Kari. For now take cover somewhere safe."

Kari nodded and ran to somewhere safe as she was told, all the while wondering one thing. How did Iron Man know her name? She knew for a fact she had only seen him up close when he fought against Crimson Dynamo, but they had not talked to one and other. Then it struck her, Iron Man had to be someone she knew and there was only one person that she could think of that he could be. She was not entirely sure of this, but she knew exactly how to find out.

Back in the battle, Whiplash had gotten up and tried to fight back, only for Iron Man to grab his whips once again and blast him hard into the chest with a powered up unibeam. Once he was on the ground again, he found himself being tied up by his own whips and then held down by Iron Man as he spoke in dangerous voice.

"I know you work for Thompson Whiplash," Iron Man told him. "Why did he want that research, why are you working for him, and why do you refer to him as Mister Fix?"

Whiplash chuckled as he responded. "You know nothing Iron Man. Thompson is only a disguise that my employer assumed. Mister Fix is his real name now, and as for why he wanted Doctor Calypso's research, the reason is because his plans will be greatly influenced and accelerated with it."

"What is Fix planning?" Iron Man demanded.

"I do not know, why not ask him yourself."

"Answer me," Iron Man shouted.

"No. Fix made me what I am today and I owe him for that. I am not about to sell him out to anyone."

"I am sorry you feel that way," Iron Man told him as he hit Whiplash hard in the face, rendering the villain unconscious.

Iron Man was about to use Whiplash's whips to tie him up outside to wait for the police, when saw the building was finally starting to fully collapse while Kari was still inside. He then panicked knowing he would not get to her in time, but then remembered where the Mark Forty Two was. Thinking quickly, Iron Man gestured to the suit like always, and pointed towards Kari, telling the suit to form around her, and it did. As soon as the suit was on her, Robert told J.A.R.V.I.S. to fly the Mark Forty Two to safety, which the AI was more than happy to comply with.

With the Mark Forty Two armor and its passenger safely out of harm's way, Iron Man turned back to Whiplash to finish what he started, only to be hit by a powerful blast from an unknown laser weapon. He landed on his back and looked up to see that Whiplash had somehow escaped, and that there was someone else now standing over him. He knew this man as Thompson, but there was a great change in him. He now had his entire head save his mouth and nose covered in a robotic apparatus with glowing, blood red eyes and two mechanical arms, one of which had a laser cannon mounted on it. The other arm seemed to be the most robotic, and housed multiple tools, and his chest was just as robotic looking as his two arms and head seemed to be. The only thing on the man that did not seem to be mechanical was his legs, but as the man circled him, Iron Man could hear a distinct sound of heavy metal against the floor with each footstep he took.

"The Invincible Iron Man," The man said calmly. "How unimpressive."

"Thompson," Iron Man asked in confusion, though he had a feeling he knew who this really was.

"So you know me by the name I chose when I came to this facility undercover," The cyborg man said to Iron Man. "However, I would prefer my now true name, Mister Fix, if you do not mind."

"Good to know. Why did you come here?"

"My reasons and plans are not for those of a lesser mind Iron Man," Fix told him, sounding as though he were superior to others. "And make no mistake; your interference has only slowed me down to a slight degree. I find your attempts to stop me, even if we were doing so without knowing, to be amusing, but I will eventually remove you from this equation."

Fix was about to move to leave when he paused for a moment, and then raised his cannon again, right up to Iron Man's chest. "Then again, why wait. Oh and before I forget, I know that Downey is listening on the other end of your communication systems, so I know he will hear me when I say that it seems he had chosen poorly."

Robert could hear the hum of the cannon powering up to fire, and he could not move because something in that blast caused his suit's power systems to start switching to backup. He could now only watch and wait for the end, but he did so bravely and without fear. Then, from out of nowhere, a repulsor blast was fired sending Fix flying to the opposite wall. Iron Man turned around and saw the Mark Forty Two standing there, with a repulsor raised. It then walked over as Iron Man's power systems finished powering up, allowing him to sit himself up on one arm. The two suits looked at one and other until the face mask on the Mark Forty Two's helmet opened to reveal a smiling Kari who said "I guess this makes us even huh?"

Robert could only stare in disbelief. Somehow Kari had managed to get into J.A.R.V.I.S.'s systems, take control of the Mark Forty Two, and fly back here to blast Fix before he fired at him. Remembering Fix, Iron Man turned around and saw that the villainous master mind had vanished like his hired lackey did. Suddenly, the building began to rumble more violently than before, and he knew they had to get out of there right away.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.," Robert cried into the internal speaker. "Can the Mark Forty Two still fly Kari out?"

_"__Negative sir,"_ J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. _"The Mark Forty Two only has enough power to return itself to _Armory _on remote pilot. It does not have enough power for itself and a pilot."_

"Then open it up. I will carry her out myself."

_"__Understood sir."_

A moment later, the previously mentioned armor had opened up and ejected Kari from it before closing up again and taking off to head back home to _Armory_. Kari was worried for a moment, until she felt Iron Man wrap his arm around her, and then blast through the window, and up into the vast blue sky. Kari quickly wrapped both arms around Iron Man's neck to make sure she did not fall from the hero's grasp, feeling much safer than she expected, almost as though she were being held by Robert.

"You are going to be okay Ka-" Iron Man said before stopping himself from slipping, clearly not remembering he already had earlier. "I mean ma'am. Whoever you are."

Kari giggled a bit before saying, "Thanks…Robert."

"Robert," Iron Man said, panicking on the inside. "I think you have me confused with someone else."

"Relax. I know it is you," Kari told him, her tone completely reassuring the whole time she spoke. "I figured that you had to be Iron Man considering how often you have disappeared before Iron Man showed up and vice versa. Plus no one could have to run off for an emergency at work as often as Robert Landry does."

Robert simply stared at the beautiful girl he held in his arms as he flew through the open sky, regarding her carefully. He trusted Kari so much, and it killed him having to lie to her whenever he had go be a hero. He knew that if anyone in his life deserved to know his secret then it was definitely Kari. So he took a deep breath and opened the face mask on the helmet, showing her his face.

He then looked around before asking "How long have you known?"

"I did not," Kari exclaimed. "But I do now. This is amazing! I cannot believe you really are Iron Man, and that you actually fell for that."

"You stink Kari," Robert whined. "And I cannot believe that you pulled the same trick on me that Pepper Potts pulled on Tony Stark in _Iron Man: Armored Adventures_."

"Well you still fell for it," Kari quipped. "This is incredible. My boyfriend is a superhero!" She then blushed realizing she said that.

Robert simply smiled as he said, "And I am glad that my girlfriend is okay with me being a superhero."

Kari smiled a bit when he said that, internally jumping for joy that Robert had actually called her his girlfriend. She was so happy she felt like she was flying. Well flying without being held by Iron Man. Kari had little doubt she could feel anymore amazed at that moment until Robert said, "Kari, now that you know I am Iron Man, there is something else you need to see, or should I say someplace."

Kari did not know what that meant, but simply nodded, which Robert took as a signal to close the helmet back as he turned to fly back to _Armory_. It was time he told his girlfriend, Kari, everything starting with showing her the headquarters of Iron Man.

* * *

At Mister Fix's hideout, the mad genius was looking over what Whiplash had retrieved from _Tomorrow Gene_. He had a look of disappointment on his face. He turned to the energy whip wielding villain as he said "It seems you were able to retrieve the _Extremis_ solution of Doctor Calypso, but you were unable to retrieve the bio-technology of Doctor Mascara."

"My apologies sir," Whiplash replied with his head down. "But Calypso had arrived before I could to retrieve the research or the samples, and Iron Man not long after."

"Understandable." Fix then told him. "It does not matter. Soon my plans will come to fruition, and then both Iron Man and _Armory_ will fall to me, and soon the world. You are dismissed."

Whiplash then left leaving Mister Fix to ponder his next move. Now Iron Man and _Armory_ knew he existed, and that meant he had to accelerate his plans. He needed ways to either deal with the hero or simply distract him from the real operations that Fix intended to carry out. One thing he knew for certain, and that was that Iron Man would now need to be on his guard, because their war has now begun.

* * *

**_Kari: Oh. My. Gosh! Robert told me he's Iron Man, and now he's showing me armory! Oh by the way, Kari here, if you were expecting the usual author's note well, we're doing things differently this time. So I guess you're wondering how we got from this happy ending moment, to the climactic battle with Iron Man being forced to fight the female armored hero. Well believe it or not, this is not the end. It's only the beginning._**

**_AN: Uh, what are you doing here?_**

**_Kari: Eep! Uh gotta go!_**

**_AN: You get back here girl! Oh before I forget…_**

**Next time on _Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, Kari is in on the secret, and now she want in on more than just that. "I want to join you out there Robert. I want to be an Armored Avenger. Like you." "No way. Absolutely not!" And naturally some people are not okay with that.**

**Meanwhile, Iron Man finds himself up against the wall against a new threat. Is this Mister Fix's latest scheme or someone else's? "I do not do anything without being paid." "I am well aware of that Implosion. Just make sure that the facility goes down in flames." "Not a problem, considering that make stuff burn is my specialty."**

**Who is this Implosion? Who is he working for? Will Iron Man be able to stop him? Will Kari be allowed to don her own suit of armor? One thing you can count on, this next chapter of the story will not end happily for everyone, leaving this final question. Who. Will. Survive. This. Next. Encounter?**

**Find out on the next exciting, breathe taking, and dramatic chapter and the second part of the first story arc saga of…_Iron Man and the Armored Avengers, Of Masks and Rescues_! Till then please read and review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Of Masks and Rescues part 2

_**AN: I do not own Iron Man or anything else in this story but the OCs**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Of Masks and Rescues**

**Sub-Chapter B: Fiery Problems**

After Kari found out Robert's secret identity and was shown _Armory_ she naturally had many questions. Anything ranging from how fast each of the armors are, to how precise is the _Extremis R_'s control over both the armors and machines is, to the reason behind having more diversity among the Iron Man armor category armors than the others, to just about anything else you could think of her asking. Downey and Paltrow were smirking the whole time at Robert's uneasiness at her knowing, and having to answer so many questions at once, along with the fact that she seemed to ask some of those questions in just one breath. They could have sworn they heard Robert mutter that she sounded like the _Iron Man: Armored Adventures_ version of Pepper Potts for days.

After receiving the grand tour, being sworn to secrecy, and going through everything else that was involved with Kari being allowed to remain in on the secret, not that they could change that fact, Kari ended up being much more understanding of Robert's absences and sudden disappearances during their dates and decided to even help out with Robert's hero career. Every time that Robert had to go off and armor up for action, Kari either stuck around to help in some way if she could, or just made a bee line for _Armory_ where she would be safest. Plus it was also a big help having someone help to cover for him with others when he had to suddenly leave. Of course that did not mean Caz became less suspicious of the whole thing.

When Kari was not doing anything important other than helping with Robert's training in the suits or just hanging out with him, Downey, and Paltrow at _Armory_, she spent some time in the _Hall of Armors_ looking at all the different suits. Although she seemed to stare at them all for equal amounts of time, the most observant of people would be able to tell you she was looking at one armor category more than any other; that category being the Rescue armor category.

Robert and the two _Iron Man _movie actors noticed this and figured that she just found them to be the coolest since the Rescue armor was the only suit that was clearly designed to have a female pilot for it, and that she would just lose interest in looking at them one day. They were right in that regard, but they did not expect her interest would change in the way it did when that one day finally came.

It was just a normal day at the start, and Robert had finished up a training session with the Mark Thirty Three, Silver Centurion armor when Kari walked into the room. Downey had motioned to let Robert know Kari had just come up from another "Rescue Armor Window Shopping Session", as he had come to call them much to the girl's annoyance, and Robert turned to his girlfriend as his face mask lifted up to show his smiling face to her. His smile always made her stomach do somersaults, but Kari suppressed the feelings it normally gave her since she had something important to say, something she had a strong feeling would make both men, and Paltrow when she heard, be startled beyond belief. She took a deep breath, and before Robert could say anything she blurted out, "Robert, I want to become an armor pilot and help you fight crime and all the other bad guys."

She was right in her assumption. The two men were shocked beyond belief. For two reasons though, one being what she had said of course, but the other was that she had said it so fast that they were not sure they heard Kari right. Paltrow walked in a moment later and noticed that neither of the boys were bragging or playfully arguing like they usually were these days, especially when Kari was in the room.

"What is it," Paltrow finally asked.

"Unless I misunderstood, the kid's girlfriend just said she wants to join the team," Downey replied. Now Paltrow was just as shocked, and due to this, neither of them noticed that Robert had stepped out of his armor and was now frozen in place.

"Uh Kari, I am not sure I heard you right. What did you just say again," Robert finally asked very slowly.

Kari took a deep breath to calm herself, having expected that reaction but finding it uncomfortable all the same and said slowly, "I said that…I want to join you in your fight Robert…I want to become an Armored Avenger."

This time Robert knew for a fact he understood clearly and was a bit less shocked. He was able to recover a little more quickly this time however as he adopted a serious expression and gave his own answer to that. "No."

Now it was Kari's turn to be shocked. She had expected Robert to be slightly cautious and asking her questions to make sure she wanted to do this, not flat out refuse to let her like this. "Why not Robert? I mean I am more than capable of helping you out there, so why would you not want me to help?"

"Kari, you know better than anyone how dangerous that is because you witnessed it firsthand once," Robert replied. "Did you forget that Whiplash tried to kill you when you were just yourself?"

"Of course I did not forget that, nor did I forget the fact that he tried to kill you as well and so did that Mister Fix guy. And just so you know, I have seen how dangerous it is more than once," Kari had froze as she realized what she had said in her retort.

"If you are referring to when you snuck back into the restaurant to watch the fight between me and Crimson Dynamo I am fully aware of that," Robert told her, having just been reminded of that himself. "But that more than proves my point. I know how dangerous this stuff is and yet from where I am standing you seem to ignore that knowledge and do whatever you want."

"Need I remind you that I did not know your secret identity as Iron Man at the time, and those other times after I found out had more than once helped save you and a lot of other lives as well?" Now normally Kari would be maintaining a calm exterior and demeanor in these arguments, but this time it was more than different.

It came to be even more so when Downey cleared his throat before adding his two cents. "You know kid I have to agree with the girl. I told you that you need to help recruit members to become pilots for the other armor categories and already we have a volunteer. She is more than qualified to handle one of the suits. I think we should let her."

Paltrow also voiced an agreement to that and now it was completely the opposite of what Kari thought would have happened. Instead of Robert agreeing with her and arguing with the other two about why she should be allowed to wear one of the suits, it was the other way around with Robert arguing why she should not be allowed to and Downey and Paltrow were agreeing with her. She decided to get their attention as soon as it started to turn into a full blown argument.

As soon as she did, Kari told Robert, "I know you may not believe this Robert, but I have thought this through. I want to join you out there Robert. I want to be an Armored Avenger. Like you."

"No way. Absolutely not!" Robert was practically screaming now, and before anyone could say another word the alarms went off.

"What is going on," Downey asked as he spoke into the intercom microphone.

_"__Sir there is a report coming in about a heavily armed arsonist attacking the research firm known as _Bio-Farm_. Threat Level: have also confirmed that the suspect may be using technology that may have been provided by Mister Fix,"_ was the computer's reply.

"We will talk about this later," Robert told Kari as he moved to his usual launch pad. He then asked Downey, "How is the Mark Forty Two?"

"It is still undergoing repair from your battle with Whiplash and Mister Fix last week," Downey told him. "Thankfully, we still have both the Mark Thirty Three, Silver Centurion and the Mark Seventeen Heartbreaker ready for action."

"Well I had best get moving. Ready the Mark Thirty Three, because it is time to armor up!" Robert cried out as he extended his hand towards the previously mentioned suit, sending the mental signal for it to form around him. A moment later Iron Man was blasting off and flying to the scene.

* * *

Iron Man had arrived on the scene just as said arsonist was launching another barrage of flames at the building. He could see why the computer would classify his tech as the kind Mister Fix would provide at first glance, but after zooming the camera on his armor's viewing lenses for a better look, he had to disagree. The man was wearing a black and orange full body suit that was clearly led lined, with goggles on his mask also led lined and with darkened lenses to prevent people from seeing his eyes. He also had a large pair of twin propane tanks with long houses that connected to fire emitting devices on his arms, which he was using to burn the building. The only visible, defining detail about him was the messy blonde hair that he let fall freely from the back of his mask.

Iron Man was not about to let _Bio-Farm_ be destroyed, because for one reason he knew that they were doing major work that involved medical research, and another reason was because there were probably still people inside. He immediately flew down to intercept the culprit, and knowing his repulsors would more than likely cause more problems than they would resolve in this instance, he tackled the arsonist hard as he flipped over and threw the man at the wall.

"Well, well, well. Iron Man. I was wondering how much more I would have to burn to get your attention," the unknown arsonist told him.

"Wait, are you saying that you are putting lives at risk and causing important biological research to be set back by years just because you want attention?" Iron Man asked incredulously.

"Nah, I burn stuff for the rush of it, and for the right price as well hero."

"Well I guess you will have to get a new hobby and send a refund from prison, because that is exactly what you are going to be doing when this is over." Iron Man moved into a fighting stance with a repulsor raised and ready to fire.

"Please," the arsonist scoffed. "You cannot stop me. No one can stop me, and everyone will soon forever remember the name Implosion!" With that he let lose a massive fire blast that enveloped the armored hero.

Iron Man simply walked through the blaze as he asked, "You do know that I wear an indestructible suit of armor right?"

"Everything burns Iron Man. Everything as long as you have the right amount of heat."

Implosion started letting lose more and more blasts of fire from his wrists and then eventually started tossing bombs at him that caused even more of a blaze. Iron Man hated to admit it, but this Implosion guy was right. His armor's heat shields could only hold for so long and this guy was trying the limits of it. He tried flying out of range, but that proved to be problematic. It quickly became evident that this was not going to end in a victory for him, and it seemed Implosion had won, but before the arsonist maniac could finish Iron Man, the sounds of police sirens stopped him.

"I have done the job my client asked for. Do not get in my way again hero," Implosion told Iron Man before using his fire emitters to fly off.

_"__Robert! Robert, are you okay?"_ Kari's voice cried out through the communicator in the suit.

Robert groaned in reply as he stated, "If anyone over there even thinks of saying that I got majorly burned, and I know you are thinking of it Downey so do not deny it, I will blast them with my suit's unibeam when I get back."

* * *

Later that day, Implosion was doing maintenance work on his equipment and making sure he was ready for Iron Man the next time he ran into him when he got a call from a blocked number. He hit the speaker phone button as he answered, "You have got Implosion. What do you need me to burn?"

_"__Implosion, I heard that you were able to complete my last job for you fairly easily,"_ a distorted voice asked from the other end of the phone.

"Well my mystery friend," Implosion smirked. "Yeah I got the job done, and I got to scorch Iron Man a bit as well."

_"__You encountered Iron Man?"_ the voice asked.

"Yeah, but I did not get to toast him permanently before the cops showed."

_"__Well you may get the chance to do so. I have another job for you. The bio-research complex known as _DN-Advancers_."_

Implosion noticed how this was the third time at least that this client asked for a bio-research place to be burned, but did not care as he clarified once again, "I do not do anything without being paid."

_"__I am well aware of that Implosion. Just make sure that the facility goes down in flames."_ The distorted voice of his current employer told him.

"Not a problem, considering that making stuff burn is my specialty," Implosion smirked as he strapped on a new glove-like device that practically fizzled with flames and hung up.

On the other end of the line, on the edge of the city of Los Angles, California, the mystery client smirked as _she_ hung up the phone herself. "I know that quite well, and I am counting on it," one Jennifer Calypso smirked with a twisted pleasure at the thought.

* * *

After Robert had returned to _Armory_, and endured Downey's fire related joke about how his fight with Implosion went which came despite his warning, the team had quickly done a search for information on the arsonist. They found their answers quickly, in the form of multiple police reports. The arsonist was a wanted pyromaniac and hired gun who was known for causing massive fires to major businesses and other locations and places. He was wanted for questioning for sudden infernos that took the lives of political figures, bombings of major research firms, and multiple other similar crimes along with several accounts of theft of arson related technology.

The whole team was suddenly questioning why Mister Fix hired this man, especially since it seemed that Fix would want any kind of research information intact and had no interest in political affairs, but they decided to worry about that later and figure out a way to track him down and determine his next target, which would be very difficult at this moment in time.

That was almost two days ago, and right now Robert and Kari were out having a small date. Robert was decked out in his new usual attire the only difference being that his usual jacket had been replaced with a vest of the same color and similar design as his jacket, the main difference being the gold colored stripes went up along the front sides of his vest, while Kari was wearing a pink short sleeved shirt with dark colored jeans. The two were simply enjoying a lovely stroll through one of the city parks. Well they were trying to enjoy it, but they were still arguing over the same issue that had been raised two days ago; whether or not Kari should become an Armored Avenger.

"Kari, sweetie, I am saying this as nicely as I can right now. No means no," Robert told his redheaded beauty for what he believed to be the thousandth time.

"And I am telling you, you still have not given me a reasonable reason as to why not," Kari fumed. "Why do you not think I can do this?"

"It is not that I do not think you can do it Kari. It is the fact you asking me to let you risk your life as a superhero. This life is not easy and it is not a game either Kari. People die in these things if you make one mistake."

"I know full well that it is not a game!" Kari shouted now beyond annoyed with her boyfriend. "And I know how serious it is, but I am telling you I do not care! You cannot expect me to just sit on the sidelines and worry for you every time you go out there like some helpless little girl! I know what this involves, and I want to do this."

Robert was stunned by this. He knew Kari cared about him a great deal, but he did not realize how much his new life had her worried. He needed to clear up why he was so against the idea of her wearing one the armors now more than ever.

"Kari," He said softly as he placed his hands on shoulders so that their eyes became locked with one and other. "I know I may seem harsh in saying that I do not want you wearing the armor, but you have to understand why that is. It is not that I am worried that you are not qualified, because I know full well that you are, but the problem is that as soon as you put that armor on, you will have to face dangerous individuals like Mister Fix or that Implosion guy, who was hired by someone we still do not know to attack _Bio-Farm_, and the thought of you facing that kind of thing and not coming back from that scares me."

Kari's heart was beginning to race faster as she was starting to realize why Robert was so against it. He was not worried that she could not do the job, but rather he was just as worried about her safety if she were to wear one of the suits as she was about his when he was. Though something in what he said about Implosion stuck out to her, so much so she did not hear Robert as he continued talking.

"The thought of you not being in my life, or not being around at all scares me, because I-."

"Wait a minute. _Bio-Farm_," Kari suddenly exclaimed as she interrupted Robert. "We have to get to _Armory_ right now!"

Robert was so confused by Kari's sudden outburst that he just let her drag him back to his car and remained silent the whole drive over to the secret underground hanger of the Armored Avengers. After arriving, it was clear that Downey and Paltrow were working on finding Implosion when they turned and saw the young couple walk in. "Did we not tell you two to just relax for the day while we worked on this?" Downey asked once he saw them.

"That was before I realized why _Bio-Farm_ sounded so important," Kari replied. "Do we have a list of all of Implosion's most recent targets?"

Paltrow and Downey looked to Robert who simply shrugged in confusion. "Yeah right here," Downey replied as he handed the girl the data pad with the information. "They are all places that do some research in bio-technology, but beyond that we have not seen a connection of any kind. The research they do is all completely unrelated for the most part."

"There is one connection," Kari said as she looked up from the list. "These are all places that Doctor Jennifer Mascara had previously worked at."

"Wait a minute Kari," Robert finally cut in. "Are you referring to that woman that I met at your old business place the other day with that _Project: Mirage_ thing?"

"_Project Masquerade_," Kari clarified. "And yes. I recognize all these places from when I looked into her job history. Apparently she had been fired for multiple accounts of refusing to listen to superiors and using their research for unauthorized research in biological weaponry."

"Wait are you saying this Mascara woman, is hiring a wanted arsonist like Implosion out of revenge?" Paltrow asked.

"I never thought she would do something like this at first, but obviously something has changed. In the past she has always just talked about making sure people who had 'wronged her', at least from her point of view, paid the price but now it would seem she is actually following through on those threats."

"If that is the case and Mascara is hiring Implosion, we might be able to use that to both expose her and stop Implosion," Robert declared. "Is there any place that Mascara used to work at that Implosion has not hit yet?"

"A few actually," Kari said as she skimmed through the list again, "but assuming this is listed in chronological order of when Implosion hit the places then it would seem she is having him attack them in the same order as she was fired from them."

"Yeah that is the order it is in," Downey confirmed.

"Then I know where she will send him next. A complex called _DN-Advancers_," Kari told them confidently.

"Well then, I think we have a plan on how to lure her out and capture our guy," Robert then announced.

* * *

That night, Jennifer Mascara was standing in a shadowed alley near _DN-Advancers_ like she was waiting for something. She wanted to be away from the area when Implosion arrived, because there was a chance he may find out she was his employer, and that would quickly compromise her standing in the scientific community. What she did not understand is how the person who called her out here knew she hired him or why they wanted to meet her here. That is until she heard a voice from behind her. "So I was right. You are behind Implosion's latest series of attacks aren't you Jennifer?"

Mascara spun around and watched as Kari stepped out of the shadows, clearly irritated and disappointed. "What is it to you if I am Calypso? These people need to learn why they needed to run my research and why it was a mistake to fire me," Mascara hollered at her fellow redhead.

"But why Jennifer? What are you trying to prove here," Kari asked.

"You know full well why, since you were there when _Tomorrow Genes_ was attacked," Mascara yelled. "These so-called 'superheroes' and villains that are supposed to be the stuff of fiction are now real and a very great threat! We need to be able to protect the good and normal people from these freaks that are now practically appearing on our doorstep and if necessary the vigilantes that claim to be here to help us only to cover up the fact that they are more than likely planning to do exactly what those other guys are doing!"

Kari was stunned by this realization. This whole thing was because Mascara was scared by what had happened at _Tomorrow Gene_. Whiplash and Mister Fix's attack, Iron Man's appearance, it did not matter which one it was, one of those things was the trigger for causing her to throw all her self control to the wind and start doing what she was doing. "Jennifer please listen to me. It is not too late to stop going down this path."

"I do not want to stop going on this path Kari. We need my bio-technological weapons to stop these…these menaces!"

"Like me," a voice asked from behind her. The two girls looked and saw Implosion standing there, slowly stalking towards them with a sinister smirk clearly present on his face despite the fact his face was hidden by his usual mask and goggles.

"So my big tough boss man turns out to be some pissed off scared little science girl huh," Implosion droned out. "I would be mad, if I did not have the perfect little targets to burn to make me feel better."

He raised his two fire blasters at the girls who ran off into _DN-Advancers_ to find safe haven. This was a serious mistake when Implosion followed them into the complex and let lose more fire blasts and tossed some fired grenades at them, causing fires to start lighting up the building from the inside and spread due to explosions of volatile chemicals. Kari looked for Mascara after getting separated from her while dodging the pyromaniac's assault and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Mascara had dodged long enough to pull out what looked like a mask, which she recognized from the design specifications she had seen from _Project: Masquerade_. She then realized that Mascara had gone ahead and developed the device without anyone's approval and decided to be mad about it later as she tapped a small device she had hidden in her coat sleeve.

A moment later, there was a sound of breaking glass as Iron Man came crashing through the window, decked out once again in the Mark Thirty Three Silver Centurion armor, as he shouted out, "Attention insane pyromaniacs, misguided fools, and all other forms of criminals!" He landed in the iconic Iron Man pose of kneeling down with one fist on the ground while the other was above him as he finished saying, "You are now officially toast."

Implosion turned his attention to the red and silver armored hero and shouted out a battle cry as he unleashed a new barrage of flames and explosives at the hero. This time Iron Man was more than ready, and had the armor direct his repulsor blasts so that the shots would be more precise in their hits. The battle turned to one of dominance between repulsor technology and fire based weaponry as the two fought tooth and nail to top the other, and Implosion's new heat directing and flame generating gloves were making it a very even battle.

While this was going on, Kari took the opportunity to search for Mascara so she could drag the woman out of the building and tie her to the nearest pole of any kind with a sign saying "Say hello to Implosion's most recent employer. Please arrest her." She would normally take great pleasure in seeing the woman dragged off by the police for this sort of thing normally, but in this case she could not help but understand her reasoning behind it all. These battles that Robert had to fight in were terrifying, and she would not have been surprised if there were at least a few people who felt the same way that Mascara did, but Kari doubted that anyone would have gone as far as Mascara did. She was brought out of her musings when she heard Mascara crying out for help, and turned to see her trapped under some rumble directly beneath what looked like a vat of chemicals.

"Kari please help me," Mascara called out. "Those chemicals are harmful in the state they are in right now! I do not want to find out what they do to humans first hand!"

Kari did not need that further amount of persuasion as she had already raced over and started to shove on the rumble, but sadly she was not strong enough to lift it. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the building, as Iron Man finally landed a direct final hit on Implosion, but the shockwave caused the already fragile infrastructure holding the vat up to finally collapse and the chemicals fell downward towards the two girls. Iron Man flew as fast as he could, but he knew he could only save one of them.

He grabbed Kari, wrapping his arms around her waist, and blasted up out of the way as the chemicals fell onto Mascara. Kari cried out in despair as she saw what she believed to be the end of the woman she once hated dealing with so much and the building's fire suppressant system finally activated with a little push from _Extremis R_ courtesy of Iron Man.

When the chemicals had finally washed away from the young woman, Mascara seemed to be fine for the most part, but her breathing and heart rate were shallow according to J.A.R.V.I.S., and her hair seemed to give the impression of being burned in several places. The worst of it was her face, as it appeared to have been mutilated greatly and disfigured in so many ways that would normally be associated with multiple different injuries. Robert did not even need to ask J.A.R.V.I.S. to call for an ambulance when he alerted the authorities.

A few hours later when the police had finally arrived, Iron Man handed Implosion over to them while Mascara was wheeled into the back of an ambulance that immediately rushed off to the hospital. The doctors told Kari, who had stayed behind to tell the police what she knew about the situation and the relationship between Mascara and Implosion, that they would do everything they could for Jennifer Mascara, but it seemed likely she would not make a full recovery, if any at all. Kari had nodded in understanding and after making sure the police and medics did not have any other questions for her, she walked over to Iron Man and asked him to take her home, which was her way of asking Robert to take her back to _Armory_ so they could tell Downey and Paltrow what had happened there before returning home. Nearly the whole flight, she had silently cried into Robert's armored shoulder.

* * *

A few days later, Kari and Robert had gone to visit Mascara to see how she was doing in her recovery. Kari had told Robert that even though she did not like the woman that nearly caused all three of their deaths it did not mean she outright hated her. She had only broached the topic of becoming an Armored Avenger a few times since then, but after what had happened with Implosion Robert was more against the idea of Kari donning a suit than ever. Though deep down, Robert was honestly beginning to think that maybe it would be better if Kari became an armor pilot.

Just then, despite the atmosphere, Kari thought of something from the other day when they had the revelation about whom Implosion's employer was. "Hey Robert," Kari said getting a grunt of acknowledgement in response. "Right before I figured out that Mascara was the one employing Implosion, I think you were about to say something really important." Kari's face went from excited, to shy, to mischievously grinning as she finished by saying, "Go ahead."

"What," Robert asked in confusion before realizing what she was referring to, and then he instantly became flustered. "Oh that. No it was nothing really. I was just…I mean I was simply…"

They came to Mascara's room as he was saying that and they were then both met with a startling surprise that cut off any further conversation on the topic. "Doctor," Kari called out. "Doctor we have a problem!"

"What is it," one of the doctors who heard said as he came running.

"It is Jennifer Mascara. Did she check out?"

"No why?"

"Because," Robert replied. "She is not here. She is gone!"

* * *

** _AN: Ooooh the plot thickens. Mascara is seriously hurt and now missing, Kari's expressed her desire to don a suit, and Robert nearly told Kari those three simple words._**

**_ Robert: Uh, I'm uh not going to do that for real anytime soon am I?_**

**_ AN: As long as I have anything to say about it, and I have everything to say about it, YES! That'll be a big deal for the story. Ahem. Anyways…_**

** Next time on _Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, Mascara has gone missing, and with Mister Fix making himself known and Implosion now behind bars, you would think that Robert, Kari, and the others would have had enough by now. Sadly, things have only just started to go from bad to worse our new masked menace finally arrives on the scene. "Who are you?!" "I am the one person who is willing to stand up to you menaces like you _Iron Man_. I will expose you and all others like you for what you truly are."**

** And when things get major, Caz finds himself caught in the crossfire of the newest face off of good versus evil. "Mister Samuels, I have got a small proposition for you." "I am not interested in anything any freak like you has to offer." "You presume you have a choice in the matter, but you do not. I intend to make sure that fake hero is exposed for what he truly is and your friend Doctor Calypso pays for what she has done to me, and you will help me."**

** With things getting crazier and crazier by the minute, Kari's choice to don one of the armor will suddenly become one more of necessity and be pulled out of everyone's hands. "Iron Man watch out!" "What?" "Hi there." "I did not know you now had a Rescue Iron Man." "I do not." "Yeah because FYI, my name is Iron Woman."**

** What will be Robert's reaction to Kari donning one of the armors against his wishes? Will Caz meet his end at the hands of this new menace? And will we see the beginning and the end of Rescue? Find out on the next exciting, breathe taking, and dramatic chapter and the final tale of the first story arc saga of…_Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, _Of Masks and Rescues_! Please read and review**


	5. Chapter 5: Of Masks and Rescues part 3

_**AN: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the epic conclusion to the first Story arc of Iron Man and the Armored Avengers! I do not own Iron Man, or anything else in this story that is not an OC.**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Of Masks and Rescues**

**Sub-Chapter C: Race to Rescue**

A few days had passed since Robert and Kari had discovered that Mascara had vanished from her hospital room, and the two had been working like crazy to find her alongside Downey and Paltrow. While the Hollywood actors and Kari did everything they could to find her via information they could get access to in _Armory_, Robert was armored up flying through the city to find her in every other way, knowing that in the condition Mascara was in would not allow her to be able to leave the city. Robert was now back in the Mark Forty Two armor again, and after being in the Silver Centurion armor for so long, despite the circumstances, Robert found it felt good to be back in what had become his signature armor. Despite what they had been doing though, they had not had any luck with finding the missing scarred scientist.

Though they were doing everything they could, they had to deal with juggling their search efforts with everything else Iron Man had to deal with. Every moment that Robert was not putting towards searching for Mascara or spending time with Kari was spent stopping crimes in progress, putting out fires, and other similar problems. Between all that and his efforts in helping to find Mascara, Robert was beginning to get overworked to the point where he was wishing there were two of him. Of course that led to one thing when he mentioned this after another unsuccessful day of searching for Mascara.

"This is exactly why you should let me join you out there as an armor pilot," Kari exclaimed, as she broached the topic once again for the first time since they had to start this search.

"Kari, we are not having this conversation again. Not right now," Robert told her in a voice that clearly indicated just how tired he truly was, and how much he did not want to talk about it right now.

"Well when can we Robert?" Kari huffed. "Hmm? When can we? Every time that it comes up, something either happens that diverts us away from the topic and makes us forget about it for a while, or you just dance around it! You said yourself that you think I am qualified and that all you are worried about is my safety if I were to start wearing the armor, but what you cannot seem to accept is that I am not safe even outside the armor, even if I did not your secret identity! What else is there that would make you worry so much?"

Robert was not sure how to respond to Kari. He had never known her to go off on a rant like this about anything that she wanted to do. He knew exactly why he did not want Kari to wear one of the armors, but he was not sure what to tell her right then. Well the truth was he did know, but he did not want to tell her with other people around, let alone Downey and Paltrow. Mostly Downey though.

Right when Robert was about to open his mouth to say something when he was cut off by the alarms. After Downey had asked his usual question of what was going on the computer replied saying, _"Sir it is not entirely certain. Threat has been registered as a level six threat at minimum, and the suspect is believed to be using highly advanced technology, but any other information is unknown. What we do know is that there is one suspect and that they seem to targeting _Bio-Farm_'s biological technology research center. Namely the division in which Doctor Mascara's research was stored after her employment was terminated."_

"Whoa wait a minute," Robert exclaimed. "You mean they actually kept that stuff? Why did they not get rid of it, or destroy it?"

_"__It is unknown sir," _was the computer's reply. _"However data we have retrieved on Doctor Mascara's past research would indicate that to destroy the technology she created without taking certain protocols to guarantee safety would prove fatal to others and a large amount of the surrounding area."_

"Guess you two are going to have to pick the rest of this argument up later," Downey told them, slipping into what some would consider his commander mode. "Kid you need to get over there."

"Right. Stand back Kari," Robert said as he moved into position and Kari backed away slightly. "It is time to armor up!"

A moment later Robert had gestured at the Mark Forty Two, which had just risen to the launch deck, and the armor formed around him a moment later. A second later Robert had walked over to his launch pad in his armor and said, "Iron Man Mark Forty Two, launching now." A moment later he had blasted off through the designated launch tube from his launch pad.

Almost a moment after Robert had launched, Kari turned to the other two people in the room and asked, "Does he say that every time he suits up?"

"Apparently," Downey replied. "I guess he is trying to make it his catch phrase or something."

Kari just nodded and turned around to head into the medical bay. Paltrow watched her go until she decided to follow her, neither one being noticed by Downey.

Meanwhile, Iron Man had just landed at where the crime had been taking place, and while he did so, he could not help but take note of how this was now the second time a place where Mascara had previously been employed was attacked since the attacks by Implosion. He noticed that whoever it was that broke in clearly did not make much of an effort to conceal themselves like they did the first time which could only mean that they wanted someone to know they were here this time.

**_The real question is, who are you and who's attention are you trying to get_**, Robert thought to himself as he walked in through the same way that the intruder had. Robert walked through the complex for some time, soon realizing that the building was clearly deserted, and did not encounter anything. As he turned yet another corner, he finally encountered who he was looking for in the form of having the assailant strike him in the helmet with a flying kick. Normally, this would not be a problem for him and he would be able to withstand the blow, but the blow was so unexpected and had so much force behind it that he actually stumbled and tumbled onto his back before landing on his feet with one hand in the air while the other was used to hold him on ground.

"So kind of you to come Iron Man, but sadly you will not be leaving," said a clearly feminine voice.

When Iron Man looked up, he saw a woman standing before him wearing a full body suit that was midnight blue with hints of very dark grey in the area of the chest, lower arms, and lower legs just before her black boots. She also had two laser weapons in holsters on both sides of her hips, and a larger rifle like weapon currently in her right hand. What really caught his attention was the gold colored mask she wore that looked similar to a face, even having a mouth, and blood red eyes. Her hair was long and dark colored, and her body seemed to be similar to that of a fashion model.

While he felt like he had never met her before, there was something about her voice that sounded familiar enough that made him ask the ever cliché question, "Who are you?!"

"I am the one person who is willing to stand up to menaces like you _Iron Man_. I will expose you and all others like you for what you truly are," the masked woman replied.

That was when it clicked for Iron Man. It was not just the voice but also the words that were spoken that helped him to realize that he knew who this person was. The person standing before him was in fact the person that he and the others had been looking for the past few days. "Oh my god. Doctor Mascara?!"

On the other end of his armor's communicator, Robert heard a surprised gasp from all three of the people in _Armory_, but the one that stuck out most was Kari's. She chuckled at Iron Man's surprise as she replied, "No, not quite. Jennifer Mascara is dead now, and it is all because of you and one Doctor Kari Calypso. Now I am a new woman, one who can get her revenge on both you and all those who wrong Mascara through her own strength and skills, and with Mascara's _Project: Masquerade_ to help. Now I am Madame Mask!"

"Well I am sorry you feel that way," Iron Man said as he fired a repulsor at her sending her flying back. However, it did not do much good, as Madame Mask easily back flipped back into a standing position and fired her rifle at Iron Man. Iron Man dodged the blast barely, but it was able to graze him and cause a slight amount of damage to the armor, namely in an area that was merely patched up so that Robert would be able to use it to search for the woman that he was now facing. That ended up causing a major amount of damage that rendered his left repulsor jet unreliable. Iron Man began retaliating and fired his repulsors at Mask, however none of his shots hit her.

_"__Uh kid,"_ Downey's voice asked over the communicator. _"Are your targeting systems malfunctioning or are you missing her on purpose?"_

Robert heard Kari gasp and cry out, _"It is because she is a girl!"_ Clearly she did not direct that at the communicator but the next thing she said clearly was. _"Robert, I swear if you do not start beating her up right now, I do not care what you say I will take one of the armors, come down there, and beat YOU up!"_

Right then, Robert was not sure which he was more afraid of, Madame Mask and her "vengeance" or Kari coming and beating him up. He did not need long to think about it as he took a hit from Madame Mask's rifle right to the chest that sent him flying through a wall.

As he lifted himself out of the rumble he quickly said, "Okay I am going to beat her up now." He then fired a repulsor blast, this time using his targeting systems and the shot hit dead center, sending Madame Mask flying this time.

Iron Man then moved out to see how well it worked, but saw that she was already on her feet again, like the blast was nothing. "So the Iron Man has some cute tricks," Mask mocked. "I have a few tricks of my own."

As she said that, something broke down the wall and started to come charging Iron Man. Whatever it was, it was large, mostly black, had a single dark red visor like eye and it was not alone. There were enough them to make a small army, and they all had their sights on Iron Man.

"Impressive are they not Iron Man," Mask asked rhetorically. "My biological synthoid soldiers, which I designed and began developing while I was here. I suppose I should really thank you _Iron Man_, since you allowed me to gain the power to finish them. You see that 'accident' had actually caused the bio-technology in my mask to be transferred into me, and now I can control any form of biological technology around me with nothing more than a thought."

Just as quickly as Iron Man had decided to go on the offensive, he was quickly being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and his odds had quickly begun to fall. He was beginning to get overwhelmed, and the sounds of his numerous enemies and blasters barely allowed him to hear much after a while. He knew something was said through his armor's communicator but he could not hear what, but at the moment he was quickly losing interest. He used everything that his armor could handle in its current state and quickly began to gain some ground, but he did not realize that some were getting ready to strike him from behind until the last minute he heard someone shout, "Iron Man watch out!"

"What?" was all Iron Man had a chance to say before he heard the sounds of someone or something tackling the two synthoids behind him. He then spun around repulsors ready and was greeted by a sight he did not expect. There stood a person who was clearly outfitted in a suit of armor much like his own, except the suit was clearly more feminine, and was a darker shade of red and white, with gold colored eyes on the helmet's silver faceplate. Robert recognized the armor instantly as one of the suits in the Rescue armor category, but the question remained, who was piloting it?

"Hi there," said the mystery armored hero, and as soon as Robert heard that voice, he knew who it was in the armor, and needless to say, he was shocked and somewhat angry at the woman inside, because even through the voice synthesizer, he could still recognize the voice of Kari Calypso.

Before he could say so much as one word about what had clearly just happened, he and Kari heard the sounds of the synthoid soldiers beginning to charge and then suddenly stop. They turned to see some of them part ways so that Madame Mask could walk through and see for herself what had just happened. When she did she simply chuckled and stated "I did not know you now had a Rescue Iron Man."

"I do not," Iron Man stated in a tone of voice that you would expect from Batman when he was either annoyed or simply irritated.

"Yeah because FYI, my name is Iron Woman," Kari stated. Robert simply looked at her when she said that, and Kari did not need to see his face to know that he was giving her a dead pan look that clearly said "Really?"

"It does not matter to me what you call yourself," Mask told the two armored heroes. "If you get in my way, I will destroy you."

She then raised a hand to give a signal to her new troops, and Iron Man and Kari tensed, preparing themselves for a fight. When Mask did signal, it was to tell her troops to withdraw, and the synthoids simply seemed to disintegrate themselves down and float out through the windows like a dust cloud on the wind. The two heroes were confused by her actions until Mascara spoke up again.

"Oh do not worry; I am not going to fight you right now. I was prepared for Iron Man, but not Rescue," Kari groaned in annoyance when she heard Mascara call her that. "Then again, who is at this point considering you are still new to the scene, but make no mistake Iron Man. I will have my revenge on you, and little Kari Calypso as well. Oh and by the way, you have only seen one thing that my mask now allows me to do."

As soon as Madame Mask said that, the blood red eyes of her mask began to glow, and the next thing either of them knew, Mascara had vanished like a chameleon. Robert immediately told J.A.R.V.I.S. to start tracking Mascara's signal, but J.A.R.V.I.S. told him that it was not possible, as the armor said that something was preventing him from getting a proper reading on Mascara's biological signature and now there was no indication she was even where she stood just a moment ago. Iron Man then turned to Kari and told, "We will be talking about this little idea of yours later Kari."

Kari knew from the sound of Robert's voice, that the upcoming conversation was going to be one she would not like.

* * *

Kari was right about the conversation she and Robert ended up having not being enjoyable, and the end result was that Robert now seemed to be giving her the silent treatment and the cold shoulder, not that she could blame him. As soon as he was done, Kari had all but sprinted out of _Armory_ crying, clearly upset and believing that Robert had lost all faith in her and now she was not even talking to him. It was clear that neither one of the two were willing to even make the effort to speak to one and other, and Robert himself, had not even been to _Armory_ in the days that followed aside to follow up on any further attacks by Madame Mask, each of which did not end well for him as she always seemed to slip away before he arrived. However, and even if he knew about the matters involving Iron Man, Caz was beginning to get concerned about his two friends, but especially Robert who appeared to be doing so much brooding that it would make even the best at that seem like amateurs.

This leads us to today, on the afternoon of October Thirtieth when he had decided to get Robert out of the house for a little while so they could talk. Being the kind of guy who does not beat around the bush, Caz decided to just get right to the point and asked, "Okay Rob, what is going on with you and Kari?"

"I do not know what you are talking about," Robert denied grumpily.

"Robert, you two clearly had a serious fight or something, but unlike your normal fights with her, it seems like this one has caused a serious problem. Whatever it is you can talk to me about it," Caz reassured him. He also said that for other reasons as well, because lately he felt as though he were drifting away from his two friends and he did not want to lose the bond he had with Kari and Robert anymore than he wanted for the relationship the two had to end.

When Robert would not respond Caz lost any patience he had and huffed, "You know what? Forget it! You and Kari have both been all secretive and not telling me anything for a month, and you have been doing the same thing for even longer now so if you want to cut me out of your life then go ahead and see if I care!"

When Robert heard that, it took a moment for him to register what had just been said, and he turned to see Caz storming off. **_Great Landry; now you have gotten both your girlfriend and your best friend to hate you_**, Robert thought as he watched Caz storm off into the distance. Robert wanted to go after Caz to try and clear things up, even though he was not sure how without mentioning _Armory_ and Iron Man, but that decision quickly fell out of his hands when he heard screams and what sounded like explosions from the same direction that Caz had headed. With no time to think, Robert just raced in the direction it had come from if for no other reason than to make sure his best friend was okay.

When the explosion did happen, it was right in front of Caz and it was really Mascara's synthoid soldiers bursting through the ground. Not a moment later, Madame Mask herself stepped up to Caz and said in a smooth voice, "Mister Samuels, I have got a small proposition for you."

"I am not interested in anything any freak like you has to offer," Caz told the masked psychopath that now stood before him having recognized her from the news reports that had actually been aired after Madame Mask's second burglary and first face off with Iron Man.

Madame Mask sighed and stated, "You presume you have a choice in the matter, but you do not. I intend to make sure that fake hero is exposed for what he truly is and your friend Doctor Calypso pays for what she has done to me, and you will help me."

With that she made like she was blowing a kiss to him, and a smoke that was filled with nanobots which caused Caz to be knocked out almost instantly and fall into the waiting arms of a synthoid soldier that slung him over its shoulder. Robert arrived a moment later to see Madame Mask and the soldiers walk off with an unconscious Caz.

"Caz! No," Robert cried out in desperation, but it was already too late. As Robert fell to his knees out of despair he noticed a card on the ground. He picked it up and saw that Madame Mask had signed it, and addressed it to him. The message read that if he did not tell Kari and Iron Man to come to the abandoned military warehouse district by midnight tonight, Caz would be celebrating Halloween with a very realistic Headless Horseman costume. Robert did not need much more of a reason to contact _Armory_ than that, but he made them promise not to tell Kari. What he did not know was that one person at _Armory_ had no intention of keeping any such promise.

* * *

Kari was at her home on her bed crying her eyes out. She could still remember the conversation she had with Robert a few days ago when they had returned to _Armory_ after she went against his wishes and donned the Rescue armor. She never saw him so angry before, and she was sure that she lost any trust Robert had in her. While she was wallowing in her grief, she was not doing so greatly that she did not hear her phone go off. She picked it up and saw that the number was the usual blocked number that came from _Armory_. Kari quickly wiped her eyes as she answered her phone and asked in the best voice she could manage, "Hello?"

_"__Kari it's Paltrow,"_ the actress said through the phone. _"There is a major problem. Robert just called and told us that Madame Mask has kidnapped your friend Casswell Samuels!"_

Kari was not feeling like crying anymore, and bolted straight up in bed as Paltrow told her about everything that had happened, including Madame Mask's ultimatum. She knew Robert was mad at her, but she knew for a fact there was no way she was going to sit back and let Mascara kidnap one of her friends just to get to her. She gained a determined look on her face and told Paltrow, "I am coming in, and tell Downey to have _my_ armor ready."

Not much later, Kari was in _Armory_ and suiting up in the Rescue armor she used the other night. As soon as she was she moved to the designated launch pad for whoever used the Rescue armor and cried out, "Rescue Mark One armor. Launching now!"

A moment later Rescue was blasting into the air and off into the direction that Iron Man had headed not too long ago to rescue Caz and defeat Madame Mask.

* * *

Now we come to where we were when this all began, Iron Man had arrived on the scene to face off with Madame Mask's bio-technology synthoid army in the Mark Seventeen Heartbreaker only to be caught in a trap and place under hypnotic control by Madame Mask. Mere seconds later, Kari arrived in a triumphant return as Rescue, or Iron Woman as she insisted on being called, in order to help Iron Man save Caz only to find herself fighting Iron Man who was now attacking her on Madame Mask's orders. Now the question is how do the two armored heroes get out of the mess they have found themselves caught in?

Sadly, Kari had to find that answer quickly and on her own, while trying to avoid the repulsor blasts that her now hypnotized boyfriend was shooting at her. She was having trouble coming up with anything that could help them when she suddenly remembered that she was not really alone. "J.A.R.V.I.S., I need some way to snap Robert back to his senses and make sure that neither one of us can fall under Madame Mask's control," Kari told the armor AI.

_"__Apologies Miss Calypso, but I am not the J.A.R.V.I.S. program,"_ a female computer voice replied. _"The Rescue armor category suits all function with the P.E.P.P.E.R. AI program."_

**_Okay that is a new one_**, Kari thought to herself. "Sorry. But can you give me a way to do that," Kari then repeated.

_"__Affirmative. If we connect with the J.A.R.V.I.S. program and engage the neural-shock system that would prevent mental control we may be able to restore Mister Landry to his normal state of mind which would enable the J.A.R.V.I.S. program to reboot and engage a necessary protocol to prevent the armor from being infiltrated by Miss Mascara's nanotechnology again,"_ P.E.P.P.E.R. replied.

"And there would be no risk to the pilot of the Iron Man armor," Kari asked.

_"__No. There would not."_

"Then do it," Kari exclaimed. She then charged at Iron Man while evading any blast he fired at her, mentally thanking him for making sure that the repulsors were the only weapons he had fully enabled on all his suits while any others that were not essential for the suit's area of specialization were locked down without prior authorization, and then tackled him hard. Then, using her armor's ability to manipulate magnetic fields, Kari sent them both hurtling toward the ground and made sure to hold him there until the link up had established and did its work. It took only a few moments, but it seemed like an eternity until finally Iron Man stopped struggling and collapsed.

Kari let go and moved back for a moment, and watched as Iron Man stood up, looked around, and turned to see her standing there, armored up, and clearly worried despite the fact he could not see her face. After staring for a moment, Iron Man simply sighed and said, "Thanks for that…Rescue."

Kari groaned once again at being called that and then heard through the suit to suit internal communicators, "Seriously, thank you Kari. Now why don't _we_ stop Madame Mask?"

Kari smiled under her armor's face mask, and the two turned and rocketed off towards Madame Mask, this time together, side by side. They engaged the army of synthoid soldiers and this time, made sure to avoid and blast anything Madame Mask would infuse her nanotechnology with. That was when Kari saw an opening.

"I'm going to save Mister Samuels," Kari told Iron Man, and then used all her thrusters to blast towards Caz.

"Rescue wait," Iron Man cried out, not having seen the opening she had. Of course it would not have mattered, as it was an opening one could only exploit in the Rescue armor.

As soon as the synthoids tried to cut her off, Kari engaged her electro-magnetic shields and struck the soldiers in a fly-by attack. The next thing to be struck by Rescue, was the ropes holding Caz. As soon as he was loose, he pulled off his blindfold to find he was being flown to a safe area, not by Iron Man, but by another armored hero who was clearly a woman. As soon as they landed, the mystery woman told him to stay hidden and he could only nod his head in agreement.

Madame Mask could only watch in horror as her plans began falling apart around her. Iron Man was defeating her soldiers, Rescue had freed Samuels, everything was falling apart and she was losing her chance at revenge. She moved to run until Iron Man suddenly landed in front of her repulsor raised.

"Going somewhere Madame," Iron Man asked rhetorically.

"No. No," Madame Mask shouted. "I will not allow you to win! I will have my revenge! You will all pay!"

"Oh will you please just shut up," Kari said as she landed behind her. "Whining like this is completely un-lady-like."

Mask moved to shoot Kari with one of her laser weapons she had holstered on her belt, intending to shoot either one of the two heroes, only to receive a repulsor blast that knocked her out cold courtesy of Kari. As she lowered her arm she let out a sigh of relief as she declared, "That felt so good. I have wanted to do that ever since I first met her."

Robert could not help but smile at that, as he knew for a fact that was true, and had a feeling that it was for a very long list of reasons. A short while later, the police had arrived to escort Mascara to safety, with her mask rendered disabled but left on due to the fact that she refused to have it removed by any means or anyone. After receiving a report from both Iron Man and Rescue, as they insisted on calling her much to her annoyance, as well as Caz, said big man had walked over to the two armored heroes and simply told them, "Thank you for the rescue Iron Man and…Rescue."

"How many times do I have to say that my name is…," Kari started, but then let out a sigh and simply finished by saying, "Alright. Rescue it is."

"See you around Caz," Iron Man said. He then blasted into the air with Rescue not far behind, while Caz was left wondering, **_How did he know my nickname?_**

* * *

Shortly after that, Iron Man stood atop one of the rooftops looking out over the city while Rescue sat on the ledge of the building. Neither one of them was saying anything really, but really what were they expected to say right then. Finally, once the silence became unbearably awkward, Kari sighed and spoke up as she lifted the face mask of her helmet.

"Robert," she began. "I know that I went against your wishes and donned the Rescue armor, but when I heard you had to fight Mascara I knew that I had to do something. I knew the woman has a reason for everything she did even after she lost her mind and I was not sure would happen if I did not at least try to help you. I do not care if you tell me never to wear the armor again; I just know that…I cannot live without you in my life. So please forgive me."

Robert then turned to look at Kari for a moment not lifting his own face mask while he considered everything that had happened. Yes it was true that Kari had gone against his wishes, and yes he was furious about it at first, but after finally having cooled down enough, and after the events of that night, Robert was able to clearly see that if Kari had not come when she did in the Rescue armor that first time, there was a chance he would not have survived that first encounter with Madame Mask. Not only that, but if it were not for Kari's actions tonight, he would have still been brainwashed by Madame Mask and Caz may not be alive right now. As he thought all this, he looked at her and could not help but feel that the Rescue armor just seemed to fit her so well, not because it was designed with the idea of having a female pilot specifically or because all the armors could alter their sizes and layouts to fit anyone of any size, but because she seemed to do so well in the suit that it was almost like the suit had chosen her to wear it instead of the other way around. At last he lifted his face mask so that Kari could see his face, which held a gentle smile and a kind look in his eyes.

"Kari," Robert told her. "You were right. I never did give you a real reason as to why I did not want you to be an armor pilot." That caught Kari's attention as she looked at him with a puzzled expression, while he made sure that the communication lines to _Armory_ were not currently active, he did not want to have Downey teasing him right away for what he was about to say.

"Like I told you the other day, it was not about whether or not you were qualified for the job; it was about the fact that I cannot bear the thought of losing you. To me you are more important than anything else in the whole world even my life as Iron Man. The reason for that is quite simple really." Robert then walked over to her and helped her to her feet as he place a finger under her chin so he could lift her face so that their eyes met. "Kari, I love you."

Kari gasped as her eyes widened as soon as Robert said that. Deep down she knew he felt that way about her, but to actually hear him say it was another matter entirely. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and her smile was so wide that it seemed to sparkle in the night along with her eyes. As the two leaned in closer to each other she told Robert, "I love you too."

The two then embraced in a loving, tender kiss that affirmed the feelings they shared for one and other. It was not an overly passionate kiss, but it was one that truly allowed each of them to know that what they had said to one and other was true. As soon as they broke apart for air, Robert took a moment to catch his breath before continuing. "Kari, the one thing I want for you more than anything else is to be happy, and if you truly wish to continue on as an armored avenger then I will not stand in your way. After all, everyone needs help sometimes, even Iron Man. So what do you say…Rescue?"

Kari simply smirked and as she replied, "I say, what are we waiting for? Let's take to the skies for one last patrol for the night before calling it a day and then maybe we could spend the rest of the night at my place."

Robert was not sure what she meant by that. "Are you saying that…," he began.

Kari just smirked in reply, "Only if you can keep up with me Iron Man."

She then snapped her face mask shut and blasted off into the night with an excited cry of whoo-hoo. Robert smirked at that and snapped his own face mask shut and blasted off after her. While they were doing that Robert made sure to make a quick call to Caz so that Robert could make sure he was alright and then told Caz that he would be staying with Kari tonight to which Caz replied, "Go get her you smooth player."

Robert just rolled his eyes at his friend's comment but somehow felt he knew that what Caz suggested might not have been far off. Neither one of the two knew that Downey and Paltrow had in fact heard the entire conversation the two had, and they were both very happy when Robert finally reported in that as of tonight he was officially accepting Kari's membership in the Armored Avengers. Downey told them that they would get Kari outfitted with her own _Extremis R_ when they came in the next day and that the two should just enjoy the rest of their night, determined to wait at least a few days or so before teasing the two about their relationship's newest level.

After flying around the city together for a couple of hours, they finally landed in an alleyway near Kari's home and simply had their suits' autopilot systems fly the two armors back to _Armory_ before stepping out of the alley and into Kari's home. Robert gladly returned the brilliant and wide smile that Kari had on her face as she led him to one of the bedrooms, and could not help but note how she was actually leading him to her room. As the two kissed passionately they knew that they were both in for a very enjoyable night, but neither one of them was going to be getting all that much sleep.

* * *

** _AN: And scene! Sorry if you were expecting a bit more than that but I am actually trying to keep this story as at least PG-13 as possible so do not be expecting much more than that with those kind of scenes._**

**_ Kari &amp; Robert: Kissing in the background._**

**_ AN: Oh for…Hey! Get a room!_**

**_ Kari: I love you Robert_**

**_ Robert: I love you too._**

**_ AN: Oi. Okay so those two may be a while, and I am going to go ahead and say right now that if you are expecting either War Machine or Iron Patriot to show up in the next chapter, then you should drop that idea right now. I plan to do at least one or two chapters with just Iron Man and Rescue before I add either one of them into the story, and I am not sure which one I will add first. Now with that said…_**

** Next time on _Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_, Robert and Kari are now both lovers and partners in crime fighting as Iron Man and Rescue are both blasting onto the scene, but with all this going on, how will things begin to affect their friendship with Caz?**

** And to make matters worse, the two discover that Mister Fix is not the only major crime boss that they have to contend with, as the iconic Iron Man criminal organization known as the Maggia reveal themselves and strike out against the two heroes, which once again lands Caz in the line of fire!**

** Can Iron Man and Rescue save Caz before the Maggia criminals Constrictor and Killer Shrike decide to remove this particular pain from their sides? Find out on the next action-packed chapter of…_Iron Man and the Armored Avengers_!**


End file.
